Mr Brightside
by Leaa960
Summary: Reid is trapped in an exploded building and he is not alone. How did he end up there and what is going to happen?
1. Chapter 1

„Reid we will get you through this…"  
>Morgan's voice trembled through the phone, trapped in Dr. Spencer Reid's hand.<p>

The display of the phone was covered in dust, otherwise Reid could have seen Morgan smiling at him, a picture that was taken at their last get together at Rossi's mansion. They had spent a nice day at the pool, that covered most of the property. Morgan had pulled him into the pool and when he put his head over the water, Morgan had an arm placed over his shoulder - smiling at Garcia who pointed a camera in their direction.  
>But Reid wasn't able to see the picture, that always popped up when Morgan called him, instead he could see a woman crying, clutching the body of a child against her own and lot of gravel everywhere around them.<br>Reid had a hard time remembering how he got in this situation…when did everything started to go downhill?… but his concern was not for him, but for the two people he wanted to protect with his life, two people who were trapped in here with him… a mother and her child, who deserved to live.

"Morgan don't worry you know I will make it, I always make it… Actually it's kinda funny how I always end up in situations like this… All of us should be used to it by now, don't you think so ?" he lightly chuckled at this, a small smile stretched his dried up lips.

"Reid please don't tell me you start to develop humor right now, in this situation…" he recognized Hotch's voice and heard Garcia sniff in the background, he could swear he could hear a chuckle that he sorted out as Morgan's.

"Sweetie stay positive, just think about what I would do…" Garcia sobbed again, trying to seduce the sound but she failed. Reid still heard a small whining sound coming out of the phone.

" I will but dressing up as a rainbow doesn't seem appropriate right now."

"You might be right with that one Pretty Boy."

"I always am." Morgan sighed at this trying to sound annoyed.

"Just hurry, I want them to be safe as soon as possible."

His eyes rested on the woman and the child, they had lifted their heads meeting his gaze, he smiled and they returned it, a sparkle filled the woman's eyes. He lifted his hand that was covered in dust and some scratches, whipping away the tears, that shimmered on the girl's cheek. She trapped Reid's arm in her little arms and he rested her against his chest. Her breathing got slower and slower and in a few minutes she was asleep against Reid's chest, his hand stroking her hair unconsciously.

"We will get you out of there soon…" Reid wished he couldn't hear the doubt in his superiors' voice, but he did.

Every minute in here felt like an eternity, it reminded him of being in the eye of cyclone, everything seemed calm but in reality hell could break lose anytime.

**New story, finally.  
>I hope you are interested in this story, this is just a short chapter to see if someone actually wants to read it.<strong> **I have already written some chapters, so I would be able to update frequently.**  
><strong>I don't own Criminal Minds...obviously... - apart from the three characters that are my own ;)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

They had spent a boring day at the office, dealing with the usual amount of paperwork, that covered their desks. Only Spencer was nearly finished and looked around the office. Emily and Morgan sitting at their desks buried in dozens of papers and Hotch and Rossi working in their office, JJ was at lunch with Garcia. He made himself a cup of coffee and took place at his desk again continuing with his work on this uneventful day.  
>He could hear laughter and suddenly someone grabbed his shoulders pulling him in a hug.<p>

"There he is, how're you doing wonder boy?" Garcia ruffled his hair with her hand while JJ watched them laughing.

"I guess you had a nice lunch." It wasn't really a question he straightened in his chair, standing up to face JJ and Garcia while he tried to fix his hair.

"We sure had, this day is so boring we needed a break before Garcia could get depressed." JJ watched Reid who still tried to whip his hair out of his face, JJ couldn't stand watching him so she got closer to him stroking his hair upwards. In no time his hair stopped covering his face.

"Thanks JJ." Reid blushed like he always did… anytime.

"Mommy to the rescue ." Morgan and Emily approached them.

"Stop teasing him cupcake, at least he got some hair for me to destroy and it's softer than any woman's hair I know, I wish I knew you secret honey." Garcia looked jealous in Reid's direction before bursting out of laughter.

"I'm hurt" Derek pouted playfully.

Hotch exited his office and smiled at his team, knowing they would be happy to leave the office but only until they knew what their new case was about.

"Guys we have a case." as he expected they walked eagerly in the direction of the conference room, not knowing what would expect them.

* * *

><p>"What is it Hotch?" they had taken place in the conference room gathering around the massive table in the middle of the room.<p>

"A letter was sent in, addressed to the team of the BAU."

"It's unusual that we are addressed personally, do you think the unsub is targeting us?"

"I guess we are not the targets but a player in his game, he sees us as his opponents."

Reid grabbed the letter and within seconds he lifted his head.

"Hotch is right, in this letter the unsub announces that he will hid a bomb and he challenges us to find it before it detonates. It says he hid it _under an angels' wings where everyone could witness its greatness_."

"Under and angels' wings ? A church maybe…"

"It might be a church, but today is tuesday and today is no special holiday in any religion and the unsub wrote that _everyone could witness its greatness, _so I guess it isn't a church but we can't be sure…" Hotch's voice was confident and steady but he was insecure. If the bomb could be witnessed by everyone there would be many injured people maybe even worse, if they couldn't stop it before it goes off.

"Garcia I want you to check every church that is placed in a location with a high population around. And we will work on the profile and try to find out which other place the unsub could mean with "under an angel's wings"."

They all reacted immediately, Garcia left the conference room while Reid reread the letter and the others worked on the profile.

* * *

><p>"We know that the unsub is confident and organized. He thinks he is invincible and that's the reason why he chooses us to be his opponent, it is known that our unit is one of the best units of the whole country. He is sure that we would never be able to catch him."<p>

"This whole thing is just a game for him…"

"But what does he mean with an angel's wings?"

"I don't think this is about a church, the angel is a metaphor, but for what…"Reid was frustrated and exited the conference room to get some coffee when his phone rang suddenly.

"This is Dr. Spencer Reid, who is there?"

"It doesn't matter who I am, my identity is not relevant." A raspy voice brought a chill down his spine.

"What do you want?"

"Oh I want nothing… it is you who wants something from me…"

"What is this about?"

"Oh just about an angel…"

"You are the guy who sent us the riddle?"

"I certainly am. I called to give you a hint, a hunt is no fun without a hunter."

"I'm listening."

"Well, an angel is something innocent and at the place where an angel is able to fly you will find my little present."

"What do you mean? Where is an angel able to fly?"

"That's for you to find out Doctor." Reid had to control himself not to throw his phone against the wall, his friends had watched him with concern in their eyes.  
>Without a word he entered the conference room telling his team what the unsub had told him.<p>

"He stressed that an angel is a symbol of innocence, what is something innocent for a man like him?" Emily and the others were clueless of what to do.

"I don't think it is about what is innocent for him specifically but for everyone…" – Reid stared at the board in the conference room "of course that's it." Reid started to look at the map, starting to sketch some weird symbols on it until he landed on a green space on the map.

"Reid did you figure something out?" Hotch knew Reid's expression, his eyes were unfocused but still clear, you could watch how his brain connected all the gathered information in his head while his hands were too slow to react to the amount of information, so his movements got hectic and fast.

Finally Reid turned around with a look of enlightenment and pride in it, but there was also a part of him that looked nearly terrified.

"The unsub talked about something innocent… it is common knowledge that nothing is more innocent than a child. A child is the symbol of pure innocence, often a child is called "angel" by his parents – so with angel the unsub meant a child."

"But where is an angel able to fly?"

"Well think about it. A child is obviously not able to fly, but there is a situation in which children are as close to flying as possible for them –they enjoy it because they feel free, it's like flying."

"A swing."

JJ looked at nothing specific, she remembered how Henry once played on a swing and called her to watch him flying, on the way home he had asked her if birds felt the same way he did when he was on the swing, he told her _it must be so cool to fly like that all the time_.

"Exactly, so we are searching for a place with wings, a public place where the bomb would trigger an enormous panic." He waited for them to connect what he just said before he pointed at the green space on the map.

"This park is in the center of the city, it is always well visited usually by families with their children."

"This is it, we need to act immediately. I call the state police and the bomb SWAT. We will head to the park in five."  
>Hotch hurried in his office while the officers got ready for the operation, in silence.<p>

Their thoughts were by the families who spent their free time in the park, the children playing and some people sitting on a bench reading the newspaper in their break. If a bomb went off in this park it would be devastating.

**a new chapter, I actually wanted to update after a few days maybe a week but your feedback made me so happy that I couldn't wait to show you more of this story, so keep up telling me your opinion and see what happens ;)  
>I don't own Criminal Minds.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Ten minutes later they arrived at the park, they could see that the state police had already started to evacuate the park.  
>They made a good job, the people who left the park did not seem to be in panic, sure they looked concerned but they were still calm. Some officers walked through the park, with them some dogs – which were probably specified on finding explosive. After some minutes, that felt like an eternity, they could hear a dog barking.<br>They were not allowed to go near the place, but they saw that the dog barked at a tree. The officers investigated it, before an officer approached Hotch.

"We found the bomb, but we are not able to defuse it in time, there is a small keyboard, but were not sure what the code is. We thought you had an idea." The officer was in his mid-fifties and his grey hair just covered a part of his head. A sign on his jacket told them that his name was Stefan Miller.

They had no idea. It was so frustrating; they found the bomb, but they had no chance in defusing it in time. Morgan was already on his way to hit something…anything – but Rossi stopped him before he could, telling him that he needed to stay calm for the sake of the crowd around them.  
>A small ringing broke the silence, that had lasted for seconds, but felt like hours. Reid slowly lowered his gaze to his pocket, where his phone had stared to ring. He looked at the ID to be confirmed in who the caller was…an anonymous caller, but Reid knew exactly who it was.<p>

"What is the code?"

"Doctor, it's a pleasure to hear your voice. I knew you could figure my little riddle out, of course you would."

"What is the code?" Reid's voice was controlled, he didn't want the unsub to know how nervous he was.

"Oh no time for a little talk?… I see. I will tell you the code but before I do, you need to evacuate all this cops from the park. As soon as you are alone with my precious little gift, I will tell you how to stop it…. And try not to trick me, I am watching you right now Doctor." Reid looked around, resting his gaze on his team.

"Deal. So you will call me back as soon as I am alone with your bomb?" it was not really a question, Reid just wanted his team to know what would be happening next and as he suspected Hotch already told Officer Miller to evacuate his people.

"Exactly." – silence

"Reid I can't- …" Hotch wanted to start, but Reid immediately interrupted him.

"Hotch I need to do this, I'm the only person he will tell the code, believe me when I tell you in any other situation I would gladly stay away from a bomb, but not this time. The bomb is able to kill a people in a bigger radius than the evacuation zone, no one needs to die… and no one will." Reid's eyes were fixed on his boss.

"You're right… just…just stay safe Reid." Hotch placed his hand on his agent's shoulder.

"I will. _Could you guys do me a favor?"_

"_Anything_ . "Morgan figured where this was going, not able to hide a proud smile.

"_Could at least one of you look like you're going to see me again_?" Reid smiled and the others did the same except for Rossi and Emily.

"_See you when you get back."_

* * *

><p>Reid could see the old tree looking peaceful, knowing that a dangerous bomb was buried under it made the situation a little bit surreal. He looked around, he could see no one, even his team was out of his sight. He literally felt all alone, exactly what the unsub wanted. Some seconds later his phone rang interrupting the silence that, had surrounded him like a blanket.<p>

"Excellent work Doctor. Now it's my turn."

"I think so."

"You sound upset, let me help you with that. The code is a date, a date you sure remember."

"What are you talking about?" Reid watched the clock on the bomb, counting down the seconds like in a hypnosis. There were 3 minutes left, before the bomb would go off.

"I guess I thought you would remember the day you betrayed your mother…"

"I never betrayed her – I don't know what you mean." Spencer knew exactly what he meant, but he didn't want to admit it just like that, he always felt like he betrayed his mother on the day he committed her to the sanitarium. Great… exactly what he needed an unsub, that was focused on him and his personal life…

"Oh I'm sure you know what I mean, just type in the date and the bomb will be stopped, but don't be afraid this won't be the last time you hear from me." A beeping sound told Spencer, that the unsub had hung up.

Spencer stood frozen at the old tree, in front of him a little hole, where he recognized the bomb blinking threatening in a deep red. He slowly bent down on his knees trying to calm his breathing, despite the situation, his brain was a mess, too many thoughts intruded his mind. He knew there would be enough time to deal with this unsub as soon as he stopped the bomb and so he typed in the date, he would always remember. His fingers trembled. while he typed in the numbers of the year when he had committed his mother. Within seconds the timer stopped and Spencer exhaled a deep breath, he got up and walked the way back to his team, ironically the park seemed peaceful without all the noise disturbing its natural quiet.

As soon as the team spotted him he had his arms full of JJ, who slung her arms around his neck, he felt her hot breath on his shoulder and he could say that she was crying. After JJ released him he was surrounded by the rest of his team, they were happy that their friend was safe, but they all knew it was not over yet…not when the unsub was still out there.

* * *

><p>"He knew about my mother…" Reid mumbled after the team arrived back at the bureau.<p>

"What did you say Reid? Morgan was concerned that Reid seemed to be somehow involved in this case.

"I said, he knew about my mother…He knew about the day when I committed her – the exact date was the code for the bomb." Reid lifted his head to see the reaction in their eyes.

They all stared at him, knowing just how much he was involved in this.

"We need to put you under protection… There is no way we let this guy near you." Hotch voice was filled with authority.

"No way." Reid could hear how they all started an argument. but he stopped them lifting his hand awkwardly.

"You all know, that this was not the last bomb he will hide and when he sends us the next riddle he will want me to be involved, he will not cooperate with you – you all know that." There was no room for argumentation left, they knew he was right.

* * *

><p>They continued to work on the profile, waiting for the next riddle – but after a week the unsub had still not contacted them, there was no chance that they could wait any longer for the next bomb – Strauss wanted them on a new case and they had no chance to withstand her comment.<p>

* * *

><p>The next case was just a twenty minute flight, an unsub was killing woman in their forties always using a knife,stabbing them multiple times. They were close to catching the unsub, and they already had formed a profile. Reid and Morgan were sent to the building, where the unsub probably worked, to question the leader of the company if a worker of him fit the profile. Reid went already upstairs to talk to some employees, while Morgan talked to the boss in his bureau.<p>

Reid stood in the waiting room, he could see some employees walking through the halls looking at him suspicious, he had a bad feeling about the situation even if he couldn't name why…

Suddenly an incredibly loud noise disturbed the silence of the waiting room after that everything went black.  
><strong><br>new chapter,** **I will warn you, I will need a lot of motivation to keep this pace up and maybe I will try to update on the weekend, I hope you enjoyed it and that you will tell me your opinion - extra points for the readers, who know from which episode the dialogue was, before Reid went to detonate the bomb :) I don't own Criminal Minds**


	4. Chapter 4

When Reid was able to see through the smoke and stopped coughing, he tried to get aware of his environment, he had scratches all over his skin and a deep gash on the right side of his head.  
>Just after a few seconds he noticed the woman next to him and the child on his other side that was trapped in his arms, cuddled in his side – both of them unconscious.<br>Apart from the woman and the child to his sides, there was not much left of the waiting room, most of it was buried under some gravel.  
>Obviously there had been an explosion in the building and Reid hoped that nobody got seriously hurt and he thought of Morgan, who was in the building as well. What if he was…. NO.<br>Reid knew he should not think like that, Morgan was fine and he and the little family with him would be safe in no time.  
>The woman on his left stirred and slowly lifted her eyelids, she investigated her surroundings just like he did, she too had some scratches, but apart from that she seemed fine to him. Her gaze rested on him, she visibly relaxed when she saw the child. Reid could see her brown eyes filling with tears, her fingers stroking through her brown hair that was covered in dust. He could see she tried to calm herself.<p>

"Is she all right?" her voice was quiet and scratchy, he assumed it was because of the dust.

"Yeah she is fine, just some scratches." The arm, that was not wrapped around the child, stroked her blond hair. He did not know this child, but he felt very protective of her, he hoped her mother did not mind- he had seen JJ comfort Henry like that, so it would probably work with this child aswell.

"Thank you." Her gaze was intense and he didn't understand what she was talking about,why would she thank him?- For stroking her daughter's hair?, that did not seem like a big thing to him.

"For what?" she could see, that he really was confused.

"Well you saved us. Without you we would be dead." The thought scared her, she whipped some hair of out her daughter's face.

"I have really no idea what you are talking about."

"Look at me." Suddenly her voice was filled with concern.

He looked at her and she lifted her finger, asking him to follow it with his eyes.

"Damn it." She buried her head in her hands for some seconds, before she looked at him again.

"You have a concussion. I'm surprised you are still conscious, but that is probably only because of the adrenalin. You don't remember it, but you saved us, when gravel started to bury the hall, you lifted Audrey up and dragged me close to the elevator where the ceiling is of metal."

"Wow. Well you're welcome I guess." Reid was concerned, because he did not remember any of it, the time frame between the explosion and waking up was filled with darkness.

"Oh, I don't know your name. I'm Sara and this little girl that cuddles in your sight right now is Audrey, she is my daughter."

"I'm Reid, well… regarding our situation I guess….um just Spencer … I'm Spencer." He stuttered and blushed in the end, he got always startled in front of a beautiful woman… hold on since when did he thought of Sara as beautiful …she was, but this thoughts seemed rather unprofessional for him.

"Well just Spencer – it's nice to meet you, even if I wish it would be under other circumstances."

"Why were you here anyway? That sounds wrong… I just wonder why you would sit here in the waiting room with your child." He could slowly feel the adrenalin leaving his body, but he tried to hide it, no reason to concern Sara more than she already was.

"Oh I used to work here, but Audrey and I moved to Virginia to be closer to my mother and to leave some things behind us."

"I live in Virginia as well. You just said you and Audrey, what about Audrey's father. Actually ignore me, it is none of my business." He smiled awkwardly at her.

"Oh it's no problem Audrey's father is a nobody, he dumped me when I told him that I'm pregnant, it is just me and her."

"I'm sorry to hear that, my father left me and my mother when I was a child – I know this was hard on my mother." Reid had no idea why he told her some personal things like that, he decided to blame it on his concussion.

"Things like that are never easy, but we are just fine together."

In this moment the little girl next to him moaned and buried her head deeper in his chest, he couldn't hide a smile at that.

Sara and Reid watched how the little girl woke up, resting her eyes on Reid.

"Hey Audrey, I'm Spencer." He smiled at her, hoping the Reid effect would not influence her.

"Hey Spencer, mommy is Spencer a super hero ?- he saved us."

Audrey lifted her out of Reid's lap and placed her against her own chest, stroking her hair like Reid did before.

"Yeah he is." Sara now whispered in Audrey's ear.

"That's so awesome." She rested her head against Sara's chest looking at Reid.

"Will we get out of here soon Spencer?" she looked hopefully at her new found hero.

"Sure, my friends are outside and I know they will get us out of here in no time."

After some minutes of talking, Reid's head slowly sunk down to his chest, Sara tried to keep him awake, but he got more tired by every passing minute, a ring disturbed the silence.  
>He looked down at his pocket were his phone seemed to ring, he was confused because he was sure that he had no connection under all this gravel.<p>

"Hello?" his voice was raspy.

"Oh Spencer it's so good to hear you voice."

"Oh it's you." He recognized the voice of the unsub but he didn't want to concern Sara and Audrey, so he hid his anger.

"Yeah I see you got my little present and you managed to find yourself a girlfriend in the process."

"Yeah I got it. Don't worry we are alright." He still tried not to reveal who he was talking to.

"Oh it's adorable how you want to keep them out of this, well I hope you make it out of this building - my game is not finished yet." The familiar tone told him, that the unsub had hung up again.

"Was that one of your friends?" Sara looked at him seriously; she obviously could tell that none of his friends had called him.

"Yeah, the connection broke – I will try to call him again." This time he dialed Morgan's number hoping he would be able to contact him.

"Reid? Reid, is that you? Are you alright ? – GUYS IT'S REID." The last part was a scream, obviously not directed at him, but at his team.

"Yeah it's me Morgan." He wished his voice wouldn't sound so weakened, but his head hurt more than he could say and he was afraid he couldn't stay conscious much longer.

"How are you kid, is there anybody with you?"

"Yeah a woman,Sara, and her daughter Audrey. They are fine as well just some scratches." His phone got grabbed from him. Sara pressed the speaker button and talked with Morgan, like Reid did not exist.

"Agent Morgan ? My name is Sara Witter, Spencer is not fine at all - he has a deep gash on his head and a minor concussion that needs medical treatment as soon as possible, I know he tries to hide it, but I know he has a hard time to stay awake."

"Sara give me my phone back…" Audrey giggled and he could hear some chuckles at the other end.

"Is she right Reid?"

"Yeah I guess she is kinda right, I might have a concussion, but it's not that bad."

"Idiot." Sara mumbled under her breath still audible enough for the team to hear it, covering Audrey's ears with her hands.

Suddenly some stone fell down, hitting a place close to them, in seconds a crying Audrey was buried in her mother's embrace and even Sara could not hold back some tears. Another wave of dust caused them to cough. Reid shielded Audrey and Sara with his body.

"Reid? What's going on?" now Morgan was nearly screaming into the phone.

"Calm down we are alright, there is just some piece of ceiling that hit the floor next to us. What about the rest of the building and the employees?"

"There are some employees who are hurt, we were able to secure most of the employees but some are probably still on your floor, your floor hit it worst." Reid was glad that he didn't say if or how many employees died, Audrey did not need to hear it and he wanted not to worry them by deactivating the speaker.

"I guessed so, Morgan this was no coincidence this was another gift… Do you understand?"

"Yeah. I hoped I would be wrong." Morgan's voice shivered under the thought that this explosion was the work of the unsub they tried to catch since he first contacted them.

"Morgan...I don't know what..." Reid sighed.

_"Reid we will get you through this..."_

_Every minute in here felt like an eternity, it reminded him of being in the eye of cyclone, everything seemed calm but in reality hell could break lose anytime._

_**new chapter and you deserved it, thank you so much for you reviews and following the story - nice to see someone actually likes what I write (:  
>I'm not sure just how realistic it is to have a connection in an exploded building, but in my little world it is possible. I hope you will tell me your opinion on this chapter, so I know if I should change something or if I should just continue it like that.<br>I don't own Criminal Minds.**  
><em>


	5. Chapter 5

Morgan continued to talk to him over the phone so did JJ and Garcia at some point, Sara talked to them as well while Audrey slept against his chest, not exactly regular sleep but something close, she was exhausted from this ordeal.  
>His head throbbed and it felt, like the beating of his heart would hit his head like a hammer over and over again. At some point, he listened to JJ and Sara talking while his head sunk down on Audrey's - resting on her soft hair, it felt like a pillow. His eyelids slowly closed and the darkness, that consumed him felt incredibly welcoming, he promised himself he would stay awake, he just wanted to close his eyes for some seconds…<p>

"Spencer? Spencer? Spencer! You need to stay awake" he felt a pain in his cheek …"Hey! Spence, you need to wake up . Please ….I need you – I won't get through this without you…." He heard some sobbing, he had no idea who it was.

"Spencer….Spencer come on you scare mommy…..hey wake up….come on a hero is not allowed to sleep…not now…you need to save us first…" again he heard some desperate noises.

"Don't worry honey, Spencer will wake up soon…." The woman's voice was filled with exhaustion.

"Spencer William Reid you will wake up NOW or you're fired." He knew this voice….this voice… Hotch…it was Hotch's voice.

Suddenly everything came back to him – the unsub – the explosion – Sara – Audrey… he immediately tried to open his eyes only to recognize how hard it was, his eyelids felt like they were made of stone.

"That's it Spencer, come on." Sara. Sara was talking to him.

He managed to open his eyes, to see Sara kneeling in front of him, just inches away from his face, his vision was blurred but he was able to keep his eyes open but it was pretty exhausting.

"There you are." Some tears escaped Sara's eyes and she pressed her forehead gently against his closing her eyes in relief. Spencer enjoyed the feeling of her cold skin against his.

"You're burning up. You have a fever… Morgan he has a fever." He was barely aware of who Sara was talking to and what she was talking about.

"Sara stay calm, we are working on it. Is there any possibility you could get closer to the staircase – it would be much easier to get you from there." Morgan's voice filled the damaged waiting room.

"We could… I mean it might be possible…. but I'm not sure if Spencer is able to move and I'm not able to carry him."

"I can make it." He could see the doubt in Sara's eyes but he continued "I have some energy left and I promised I would save you - which super hero did ever break his promise?" he rested his gaze on Audrey.

He felt little arms hugging his chest, "Yeah. See mommy I told you Spencer is a super hero."

Sara was still not sure if it was a good idea to move Spencer, but he needed a medic and the sooner someone could treat him the better. Also they didn't know how long they would be safe near the elevator, the ceiling had protected them until now, but for how long would it stay like this?

"Alright Derek we will try to reach the staircase. Stay on the line."

"Sure thing honey." Morgan tried to lift the mood and he succeeded regarding Sara's mocked smile.

"Don't call me honey or you will regret it." He could hear some laughter probably Garcia and JJ, maybe Prentiss.

"Alright let's do this."  
>Spencer started to straighten his body supporting his weight by leaning against the wall, Sara's arm were wrapped around his side, trying to support him as well.<br>Spencer felt a pain in his leg hoping it would not be damaged as well, but the pain that made him wince told him something different. He looked around, they were lucky - the waiting room was damaged and gravel lay all around them, but it didn't look like the result of an explosion more like the result of a minor earthquake. Sara who had worked here once, told him where they needed to go - on this way he could see some part of the ceiling they would need to cross, but it looked like it would be possible.

"Audrey, do me a favor do you know any cool songs, happy ones?" Spencer smiled through the pain, oblivious to the look Sara directed at him.

"Yeah sure I know a lot of happy songs, why?" Audrey couldn't see Spencer's pain, but she still saw that he had a hard time.

"Well technically we will walk a while and I remember that a nice song never does any harm."

"Yeah that's a great idea, whenever I'm playing with my friends we sing like all the time."

"Sounds great to me, will you sing something for me?" he managed to hold his smile in place, instead of the pain that whirled around his body controlling every part of his thoughts.

"Sure Spencer!" they started to move, Spencer was actually able to move with Sara's support and he was happy, that he was able to distract Audrey for a while, she was singing happily, oblivious to the situation around them - Spencer was thankful that she was too young to understand their situation completely and that she thought, that because of Spencer, nothing could happen to her.

They needed to pass a lot of rubble, mainly ceiling that had fallen down from the upper floor. Every movement was a challenge for Spencer and they needed to be as cautious as possible , knowing that the building was probably not stable. At some point Garcia and JJ started to talk to Audrey, to distract her from Reid who tried to climb over some chunk, his face was filled with pain, but he was able to hold back a scream for Audrey's sake but also for Sara's. He could see how worried she was, some tears stained her face. This situation must be hard on her, being trapped in a building with a guy she didn't know and her daughter, who she was worried about.

"Spencer come on we are close to the staircase."  
>Her words motivated him and so he lifted his leg to pass the stone, but before he could make it, he hit his leg on some metal. A pain shot through his body erasing everything else, he sunk to the ground behind the stone – it didn't matter that he made it, the pain was too dominating to feel anything else. Spencer tried to calm his breathing, but there was no chance of ignoring the pain. Audrey had stopped talking, so did JJ and Garcia – she was silently crying in front of him. Something flipped and he was able to stand up supported through Sara, he looked at Audrey and smiled.<p>

"Why did you stop talking?" she mumbled something through her sobs that sounded like _you are hurt_ – "Oh come on super heroes get hurt all the time, but do you know what makes them so awesome – they can just forget the pain if a beautiful little girl needs there help." Reid bent down and kissed her forehead, she giggled.

"That's it, so would you please sing again, you have such a beautiful voice."

And so they slowly made their way to the staircase. Sara could feel the heat radiating from Reid's body, his fever probably spiked and he looked like he would pass out any moment, he limbed more and more – suggesting that his leg was probably worse since the incident. But she could see no pain in his face, he smiled all the time, he acted like this just for her and her daughter. She was still suspicious, in which way Spencer was connected to the explosion, but she could care about that later, right now they needed to get out of this mess...alive.  
>After an eternity they reached the door to the staircase, the staircase was a mess, buried under dust and rubble just like the rest of the building they had seen.<p>

"Morgan we made it. What now?" Before Morgan had a chance to answer they could hear voices, and suddenly there was some light. The rubble moved slowly and suddenly they could see the face of a fireman. Reid closed his eyes because of the light, but he knew it wasn't over yet. Still, the tunnel in between the rubble was not long, they could be outside soon.

The little hole in the gravel didn't look stable and so Sara said she would go through it first.

"Sara it might be dangerous let me try it… what if it…."

No need to finish this thought Sara had kissed Audrey on the forehead and was already in the tunnel, crawling through the tunnel of stone, after a minute they could hear a loud noise, and they ground was shaking, but the tunnel kept stable.  
>Sara was on the other side now. He understood why she went first, she wanted to know this tunnel was stable enough for Sara to crawl through and she knew that the firemen would need to find a way to help Spencer through it - There was no way he could do it alone, but there was also not enough room for more than one person in it...<p>

"Baby you're next, just crawl over to me." Audrey was just dressed in a skirt and the tunnel consisted of stones…Reid reacted immediately.  
>He took off his jacket and helped her to put her legs in the sleeves of the jacket so she wouldn't hurt herself to much in the process.<p>

"So now you will just crawl over to your mommy alright?" he lifted her up to help her into the tunnel.  
>She slung her little arms around his neck and he kissed her on her head before she was finally in the tunnel. Suddenly another noise disturbed the silence and Audrey stopped crawling, she started to cry.<p>

"Mommy! Spencer! I'm scared!" she continued to sob burying her head in her hands.

Sara tried to talk to her but she didn't react…There was no time – not one of them knew how long the tunnel would stay stable. Reid decided to swallow his embarrassment and his awkwardness… he started to sing… he was singing the song that Audrey had sung before, when they were on their way to reach the staircase. Audrey lifted her head and looked at him he gave her an encouraging smile, but there was still something in her eyes that told him how terrified she was.

"Spencer I can't… I'm too scared…" she started to cry again but not as heavy as before.

"Audrey have you any idea what your name means?" he didn't wait for a response "you're name means _"noble strength"_, even your name tells me how strong you are and that you can make it, each one of us has a reason to be scared sometimes but the people who ignore their angst are the real heroes."

"Are you scared sometimes?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm scared all the time – for example I'm afraid of the darkness."

"But it is dark here, aren't you afraid?"

"Oh I am afraid, I was afraid the entire day, if not for the darkness, I was afraid something would happen to you or your mother…"

"But you never seemed scared to me…"

"Believe me I was scared all the time and I'm scared right now and I know you are scared as well, but believe me that you can make it and that you will be very proud of yourself once it's over."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

And with that Audrey crawled the last meter to her mother, who trapped her in a bone crushing hug once she exited the tunnel.

"Now it's your turn Agent Reid." The firefighter called through the tunnel. They had thought how they could help him but they couldn't come up with an idea, they had a hard time to reach the staircase and with the equipment they had, they couldn't help the man.

"Alright." Reid ignored the pain in his head…and in his leg… well his whole body ached but he ignored it. It was his luck that the tunnel was really not that long.

He crawled till the end of the tunnel where he climbed out. The part after the tunnel was a lot easier than the part before.  
>With some help of the firefighters, they were in the first floor of the building in no time, Sara still carrying Audrey and Spencer who got supported by two firefighters, one on each side.<br>The paramedics were outside the building, being not allowed to enter it, because they were not sure if there was a second bomb in the building.  
>Within seconds his team was with him and he could see tears and smiles all around him, Garcia had pulled him in a hug and he hugged a crying JJ, as well as he could regarding that he still needed the support of the two firefighters. Prentiss tried to hold back her tears, one escaped her eyes.<p>

"Hey no tears."

Sara was next to him and she looked at him with a gaze that was filled with pure relief, Audrey snuggled deeper into her mother's embrace, she was intimidated by all the people around them, she lifted her head to look up at him.

"See I told you, you could make it- I'm very proud of you…" he smiled at the little girl.

...

Suddenly everything crashed down on him, his head exploded and his legs gave in under his weight, his eyes rolled back and that was it.

**Guess who deserved a new long chapter... Thank you so much for your feedback, especially the ones who review every chapter and the guest reviewer who I can't thank in form of a message.  
>Some of you were concerned, that the relationship between Sara and Spencer would develop to fast, but I hope this chapter showed you that I will not rush things. In my opinion it is still reasonable for them to bond during such an intense experience. The story is not over yet, the unsub is still out there. I know some parts of this story aren't completely realistic, but I hope you can ignore it to a certain point. Please tell me your opinion<strong> **about**** this chapter (:**  
><strong>The 200th episode of Criminal Minds was good, but I enjoyed the cast being the guest of the talk show "The Talk" way more, they are such an amazing cast with a family-like chemistry.<strong>

**I don't own Criminal Minds**.


	6. Chapter 6

All they could do was watching….observing how their friend was lifted up by the paramedics and brought into an ambulance. They felt stupid, that they hadn't directed him immediately to the ambulance, instead they were so relieved, that he was alive, that they forgot about his injuries for some seconds.  
>Morgan felt a small hand on his arm, Sara tried to gain his attention.<p>

"Agent Morgan…"- Derek interrupted her before she could continue…"it's Derek." she had called him Morgan and Derek on the phone, but seeing a FBI agent in person and talking to him, was still awkward for her.

"Alright Derek, the medics told me and Audrey, that we should get checked out in the hospital as well…is it possible, that you inform us on Spencer's condition?"

"Of course." Derek didn't need a second to answer, he knew that being trapped, in such drastic circumstances, would bond people and who was he to neglect her wish.

* * *

><p>They sat in the waiting room for an eternity.<p>

The unsub, who was the reason, why they were here in the first place, was caught before Reid,Sara and Audrey were able to be rescued from the building, but what really concerned them was the unsub, that was still free and aiming for Reid.  
>The sound of the clock mirrored the beating of their hearts, nothing seemed important. The silence was not uncomfortable – it just suited, how they felt...<br>so much had happened.  
>Morgan clutched the disgusting hospital coffee in his hand, while the team tried to distract themselves. Rossi and Hotch whispered about the case while Garcia, JJ and Emily tried to talk about some casual topics, failing miserably. Every five minutes, they stared on the ground recognizing, that the distraction didn't work. Morgan watched the clock, ticking like it always did – it felt like the time wouldn't pass at all.<p>

* * *

><p>Morgan was woken by someone shaking his upper body, Garcia.<p>

"Cupcake wake up they said Reid's doctor will be here soon." Now the anxiety on their face was obvious.

A middle aged man entered the waiting room calling out Reid's name, some other families looked disappointed to the ground. He led them to a room with some chairs and a table, probably his office.  
>He did not need to ask if they were family, he was informed about the circumstances of this case.<p>

"Agent Reid suffered a severe concussion and the gash on his head was infected, what caused his fever. His leg suffered some damage as well, I was informed your agent was once shot in the same leg, a former damage makes the leg most likely to suffer another damage faster than before, this was the case. But I'm glad to say the damage is not that severe he will need to use crutches again, we need to test his abilities and then we will decide if he will need physical therapy or not. All in all your agent will be fine, he is just exhausted and he needs to rest - apart from that, he will make a full recovery in no time."

They already assumed, that Reid would be alright but seeing, how he passed out made them still worry, more than they wanted to admit. His team went to Reid's room while Morgan asked a nurse for the direction to Sara's and Audrey's room. The nurse told him that they were both fine, but that they should stay in hospital for observation.

* * *

><p>Sara sat on a hospital bed with Audrey in her lap, she was reading her a story even if Morgan didn't catch which one, not that it mattered right now. As soon as he stood in the door frame Sara and Audrey lifted their heads up, he could see how Sara tried to recognize if Spencer was alright or not…Morgan could sense how worried she was, they dealt all the time with people being hurt, they knew if something was life threatening or not – sure they were worried as well, but Sara looked like Spencer had died.<p>

"He is fine, some bruises and a concussion, he has still a light fever and he will need to use crutches, but he will be alright in no time." Audrey giggled at her mom's relieved look.

"Why are you laughing little one?" Morgan smirked.

"Because mommy is stupid, she was so worried about Spencer, but I told her that super heroes always survive everything…" she told Morgan about it, like it was common knowledge.

"You're completely right princess. I'm shocked, that you mommy was worried in the first place, she should have known about that." Morgan decided to play into the little girl's fantasy and it was just to adorable, how she talked about Reid like he was an amazing super hero.

"Alright I surrender, I'm sorry baby sometimes mommies are stupid as well….just like some little girls." And with that Sara started to tickle the girl on her lap.

"If you want to you can visit Spencer." he didn't need to wait for an answer, Audrey already jumped out of the bed and grabbed Morgan's arm.

"Come on Agent Morgan, faster." She tried to drag him out of the room, he lifted her up and she squealed happily – "pretty ladies like you can call me Derek."

She giggled again and jumped in his arms. As soon as Sara was ready they made their way to Spencer's room.

**I hope you enjoyed the new chapter,** **and I want to thank you again for your reviews and the people who follow this story. Always keep up motivating me, I'm not sure when ****I'll update, because tomorrow is Monday and that means school ...and some stupid school sport...**  
><strong>I don't own Criminal Minds.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

Spencer felt weird… weird was actually the best word, that came to his mind to describe his situation, everything felt like a dream - like it wasn't real. He talked unconscious not really aware of what he was saying, his throat hurt more, than he would like to admit and his thoughts were disturbed by a throbbing pain. All in all he had seen better days… but he knew this feeling..., apart from the headaches, he felt like this every time, after he woke up in a hospital. After the time he was in surgery, there was always a blank gap between the time of the surgery and the time he got hurt. For someone who could never forget anything, such a gap left an awkward feeling behind. Some minutes ago, he had opened his eyes to be greeted by his team. just Morgan was missing. He had talked to them, even if it could not be really considered talking, regarding the only things he said was "Hey" and "I'm fine". Apart from that the others informed him about his injuries and how worried they were. He didn't need to ask about Sara and Audrey either, because JJ caught his anxious look and immediately told him, that they both were fine, adding that it was his doing, they were able to leave this building unharmed. A small hint of pride traveled through JJ's eyes and Reid appreciated it, even if he did not really enjoy all this attention. But what he really enjoyed was that high pitched and euphoric voice, that filled the hallway in front of his room.

"Derek come on faster… are we there yet?" even if Audrey had no idea where Spencer's room was, it seemed like she would drag Derek forward.  
>He could hear a shout and some trapping on the floor and soon he found the little girl looking at him. She looked insecure, if she was allowed to climb on the bed, but Reid stopped her thoughts by lifting her up next to him, his head felt like it would explode, but it was definitely worth it when Audrey slung her arms around his neck jumping up and down gently, burying her face in his chest.<p>

"Spencer I missed you. Mommy was so worried about you, but I told her that a super hero would never get seriously hurt, Derek thought so as well. The doctor was so nice to me and she told me I was very brave. I want to be a doctor as well …someday, so I can help people."  
>Spencer watched how Audrey gestured wildly with her arms and he could hear a pride in her voice, that amused him.<p>

"Oh you must be Audrey, you are gorgeous …" Garcia squealed with delight at the little girl. that had only eyes for Reid.

"Thanks and you must be Miss Garcia, Derek told me that the most colorful person in the room would be you." Audrey grinned shyly at the bright woman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you and you can call me Penny." The others introduced themselves to Audrey as well and she greeted everyone, while her body was still pressed against Spencer's.  
>Soon after they finished their introduction Morgan and Sara entered the room.<p>

"Little one, I have to admit you are really fast for having such short legs." Derek ruffled through Audrey's hair.

"Yeah… imagine her on a playground." Sara grumbled playfully, after that she greeted everyone in the room and the she finally approached Spencer.

"Are you really fine?" the others couldn't but notice the still present concern in her voice.

"Yeah just a headache but I'm alright." He grinned at her.

"Well good to know, I'm surprised your throat doesn't hurt" Spencer looked at her confused "well someone who sings that bad, must have an aching throat."

She was barely able to avoid getting hit, by the pillow Spencer threw at her, he blushed. He ignored the curious looks from his team, they did not need to know about that.

"Audrey come on you have to be on my side, I don't sing that bad …."

"No you wasn't that bad… I'm sure there is someone out there that sings much worse than you do." They all laughed and Morgan high-fived Audrey, before Reid grabbed her at her little waist.

"Come here you little comedian." He began to tickle her.

"Derek help me!" in seconds Morgan had lifted Audrey up and he placed her on his shoulders.

"Better little lady?"

"Yep." She grinned triumphantly at Spencer who pouted in his bed.

A young nurse entered the room.

"Mister Reid, I was informed that you woke up again and this time it seams you will stay awake longer than a minute." She smiled but Spencer was confused, Hotch helped him out.

"You was awake half an hour ago, but you was pretty out of it just babbling some things that didn't make any sense, and after a minute or two you was asleep again."

"Anyway, I'm sure you have one hell of a headache, so I brought you some non-narcotic medicine that will help you out."

She placed the tablets in his hand and in the other one she gave him a cup full of water, he swallowed it and laid his head back on his pillow.  
>Within seconds Spencer was asleep and Sara could just think about how peaceful he looked, she couldn't put into words how thankful she was that this man had saved her daughter and herself.<br>The others had already left the room and she followed them, but first after she kissed Spencer on his forehead.

* * *

><p>The following weeks passed uneventfully and Spencer was released from the hospital. He kept contact with Sara and Audrey and during his two weeks off, they spent a lot of time together. As he could finally return to work, there was still no sign from their unsub. He had neither called nor contacted them in any other way. This situation left Reid anxious anywhere he went, he tried to suppress it, but his colleagues could still see how tense he was all the time. He looked like everything around him could explode at any minute and the team assumed, that this was exactly what the unsub wanted – there was no place he felt safe, but every time he spent some personal time with them or Audrey and Sara, he could forget about his angst, even if his body language told them another story.<br>After another two weeks he seemed more relaxed and they hoped, that the unsub would never do any harm to him again, but they knew the profile so they were sure that wouldn't happen.  
>Reid enjoyed being outside more and more, he was just more relaxed when he wasn't in a building, even if he was better, he was still anxious in any building…he just couldn't stop to think about the explosion. He walked through a park on a Saturday to meet up with Sara and Audrey, he had grown to them and he enjoyed this time away from his job. Some joggers ran past him and children were running around, he stopped suddenly when he felt a gun pressed to his side, a man slung his arm around his shoulders – to the passengers he must seem like an old friend of Spencer. He laughed and guided Spencer through the park, he had no chance in escaping, he didn't know if this man would escalate if he tried to escape and with all the people around him he just couldn't risk it, so he followed the guidance of the man.<br>"It's so great to see you Spencer. You will see we will have a lot of fun together, I know you don't do great in buildings so I thought we should meet in something more secure like this park, it's beautiful isn't it. Well I'm sure you don't remember me - we last talked like two months ago. Anyway I'm glad you're here and that will peacefully join me, I mean there is no reason for anybody to get hurt, don't you think so as well?"  
>"Nobody needs to get hurt. I sure remember you – at least you voice, but wouldn't it be better if I knew you're name?"<br>"I already told you that my identity is not relevant, but if you feel more comfortable to call me something, you can call me unsub, isn't that what people like you call me anyway?"  
>"Yes." Spencer pressed his teeth against each other and tried to stay calm, the profile said that the unsub would just enjoy his rage and he didn't want that to happen, so he just let himself be pushed in a black car with tinted windows.<p>

**Finally I updated, my week was incredibly exhausting and I'm sorry, but be sure that I appreciated every review and favorites more than I can describe, it really means a lot. Keep up the good work and tell me what you think, I would also like to know if you would like to see Reid and Sara developing a relationship or should they just stay friends?  
>Have a good weekend (:<br>I don't own Criminal Minds**


	8. Chapter 8

"Mommy - where is he?" Audrey looked up to her mother, she looked unhappy, that Spencer hadn't showed up yet, he was never late.

"I have no idea sweetie, it is weird, that he hasn't called yet… I guess I will call Derek, maybe Spencer just has some work to do." She tried to reassure her daughter but she was nervous herself.

She dialed Morgan's number to be greeted by his friendly voice.

"Hey Sara, what's up?"

"Hey Derek, I just wanted to ask you, if Spence is with you."

"No, he left the building like an hour ago, I assumed he would meet up with you – he had this smile on his face, that he always has when he meets up with you." She smiled at this, but her concern dominated the warm feeling that spread in her stomach, at Derek's words.

"We were supposed to meet but he didn't show up, I hoped you could tell me where he is…"

"That's untypical for him… I will ask Garcia to track down his phone, I will call you back."

"Thanks Derek."

"Try not to worry too much Sara."

He wanted to tell her that Spencer was alright, but he wasn't so sure right now, so he made his way down to Garcia's office.

* * *

><p>After five minutes, she could see Derek's number on the display of her phone.<p>

"Did you find him?"

"Hey calm down, Garcia said he is in the park, I'm sure he is on his way to you."

"Derek …. I can't see him anywhere, where exactly did Garcia locate his phone?"

"Just at the east entrance of the park."

Sara and Audrey decided to meet Spencer halfway, Derek was still on the phone, he wanted to make sure, that Spencer was fine.  
>Sara looked around, but she couldn't see Spencer anywhere, until she saw his phone in a trashcan, next to the entrance of the park, lying above some old newspaper articles . She didn't need to take a closer look to see it was his, she picked it up and tried to find any hint, of where he went.<p>

The display of the phone lightened up and she saw a picture, they had taken two weeks ago, when the three of them had met Spencer's team, they were all smiling at the camera and Audrey was sitting on Spencer's shoulders, she focused on his, completely content smile, before she concentrated on her task.  
>She clicked through his latest calls, but he had just called her and some of his team members…<p>

"Derek I think something is wrong."

* * *

><p>Sara had brought Audrey to a friend, even if Audrey was not very happy about it – she was worried about Spencer, like her mother.<br>She was at the bureau of the BAU to talk to Derek and the others, they were worried about Spencer's disappearance, as well.  
>Sara told them how they had planned to meet up in the park, how she got concerned and found his phone in the trashcan. All of them had to admit, that something was very wrong.<br>Sara sunk down in Spencer's chair, staring at the ground when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up in Rossi's eyes.

"Don't worry. We will find him."

* * *

><p>Spencer woke up in a stereotyped old basement, reminding him of every horror movie, he had seen with Morgan over the years.<br>He looked around to find nothing in the room, but himself, the room was empty.  
>The grey walls were dirty and it looked like the basement was abandoned for a long time.<br>A door flung open and Spencer assumed, that there was a camera hidden somewhere, he hadn't made any noises and it couldn't be a coincidence, that the unsub would enter the basement right after he woke up.

"Good morning sleepy head, rise and shine."

"We both know I'm not more than a participant in you game, so I will skip the formalities…  
>Why me? I studied guys like you my whole life and I get that you enjoy this little game of yours… but why did you choose me? Is it my IQ? Do you feel better because you can "even" play with someone like me? Or is it because I'm in the FBI and you see this as a challenge….?"<p>

The unsub grinned, showing off his dirty teeth.

"It's both actually, I just read about you in some magazine, " a genius in the FBI" , sounded interesting to me… So I collected information about you, about your life. I know everything about you – about your mother and how you joined the BAU. I think your life is quite fascinating. I also figured out, that you are tougher than you look, I was surprised to read about you being taken hostage and being shot in the leg…Even if I need to admit there was some information I couldn't get to because it is highly secured… But it doesn't matter what I know about you is enough for me."

"So how does that game of you look like?" Spencer saw no sense, in acknowledging the unsub's researches about him.

"Well the first part was to challenge your intellect with my little riddle, you needed some help but the result left me satisfied, after that followed the second part… the explosion – I wanted to see if you would be worthy playing my game… no sense in playing with someone, who can't stand a little explosion and it seems that thanks to me, you met a lovely young lady…two actually."  
>Spencer tried to control his emotions, at the mention of Sara and Audrey and it seemed like he managed to swallow his anger just fine, regarding that the man just continued.<p>

"And after that it followed part three… letting you live with you uncertainty for months - I enjoyed it so much, to see you deal with your angst, with the thought, that hell could break lose any time. How you squirmed, when you entered a building being cautious all the time.  
>And now it is time for the next step in my game… letting you suffer.<br>This game isn't one of intelligence; I already know how smart you are, no reason to testify it. I just want to see, how much it needs to break you, you survived so much yet you never lost it… I'm weak and I let myself down a long time ago, … I want to see what will break you? I want to prove myself that even someone like you can break, that you're not better than me!"  
>In the end, the unsub screamed more at Spencer than talking to him.<p>

"We will start with a little present for you, this" he lifted a black belt up" is a electroshock belt, every twenty seconds, it will torture you with some electroshock, that will get more and more intense with the time, but now we come to my little present - after one minute I will let you call you, this girlfriend of yours – she can comfort you, until you can't stand the pain anymore."

Spencer didn't know how to react to all of this information, he tried to keep it together and stay calm, he didn't want to give this man the satisfaction of breaking down.  
>The man strapped a headset on his head, for what Spencer was thankful, he knew it would be tough to hold the phone in his hand while being electroshocked.<p>

"Don't worry this special headset won't be disturbed by the electroshocks, have a good time."

The man left the basement, Spencer knew he had no reason to stay, there was nothing Spencer could tell Sara that would help them to find him – he had no idea, where he was nor who the unsub was, sure he had seen his face, but he didn't recognize him and hadn't a special outward appearance, that could help Garcia to track him down. He sighed and waited for Sara to pick up.

* * *

><p>Sara looked at the table of the conference room, the others around her still tried to find any hint of where Spencer was, but they didn't know where to start –the unsub wasn't one of their former unsubs, Spencer would have recognized the voice of the unsub, if he had heard it before.<br>Sara's phone rang and she was sure that it was Audrey, who had called already four times to ask for Spencer, she rolled her eyes at Morgan who just smiled.

"She worries about her knight in shining armor, I don't see why, that would be a problem."

She laughed silently at the knight reference, knowing how much Audrey admired her personal super hero.

"Audrey I told you I will call you when we find him." She covered her own worry with some teasing tone, chuckling at the super hero pose, Derek made in the background to lift her mood, they were all tense because of Spencer, but they tried to stop themselves from getting to negative.

"Sara." A raspy voice said her name through the phone, she recognized it immediately.

"Spencer." Her voice broke and some tears escaped her eyes at the sound of his voice, she caught a glance of the team and Hotch signaled her. to turn her phone on speaker.

"Yeah, it's me – " she could her him wince in pain.

"Spencer where are you? Are you hurt?" he answered fast as he had no time left to think.

"I have no idea, I was unconscious until I woke up in some basement, it is the unsub… the unsub that was responsible for the explosion, you need to contact- "another pain filled noise escaped his throat" you need to contact my team."

"They are here with me, when you didn't show up I contacted them, they can hear you. Are you in pain?"

"I'm fine-"another wince filled the office at the BAU and Spencer's breathing got heavier –" not exactly fine, I get electroshocks every twenty seconds until I can't stand it anymore."

"Oh no," she looked helpless at Hotch and the team, Hotch grabbed the phone from her.

"Reid stay calm, we will find you – we already got a profile for this unsub and Garica is tracking this phone call right now. Is there anything you can tell us about your whereabouts?" he forced himself to continue to talk while Spencer still tried to breath to the pain of another shock.

"No I can't help you, you need to find me on your own, I- " this time he couldn't hide a scream, the electroshocks were not bearable anymore."Hotch he wants to break me, he says he wants to prove, that even someone like me will break under some circumstances."

"We will find you, I promise."

"Thanks, just tell- " a horrible scream left the members of the team shocked, Spencer's voice sounded incredibly weak," Sara. I will be fine don't worry about me, I know you always worry to much and tell Audrey, that superheroes get never seriously hurt….she knows it's true." He panted heavily into the phone.

"Spence, just hold on …please …. I need…-"

"Hey no goodbye, I will never give up no"- the next electroshock left Spencer barely conscious-" I guess I can't stand another one, no unsub could hurt me as much as you could, I'm way to scared of you to give up." She chuckled through her tears at his words, even in a situation like this, he managed to comfort her.

There was no chance to say anything else, a dark voice – obviously changed through some device filled the conference room.

"Oh it looks like our precious doctor couldn't stand the last one, he just fell unconscious without saying goodbye…very rude. I guess I will contact you anytime soon, when the doctor is ready to play another round." The tone on the phone told them that he had hung up.

Sara tried to hold back her tears, failing miserably, while the team tried to keep their emotions hidden, not that this would really work.

**Thanks for your reviews, some of you really write a review for each chapter, motivating me to write whenever I make it. It motivates me to read your feedback so please tell me how/if you liked this chapter. I already know where this is going and I'm excited to share it with you. Updating during the week will be difficult, but everything is possible with a little motivation... got the hint? Great :)  
>This week, there was no new Criminal Minds episode, totally destroys my weekly routine but anyway... I'm still waiting for a good(!) Reid episode this season, I know the last season was filled with great Reid-moments, but that doesn't mean they are not allowed to be any in this season... I would be so happy, if there were a Reid-centric season finale, this time... the producers think about a cliffhanger this season, because they don't have to worry about contracts. The perfect chance for an epic, reid-centric season finale... just sayin' :D alright I needed to get this out, now you're free to review ;)<strong>

**I don't own Criminal Minds.  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 9

"This stupid bastard, Hotch we need to get Reid out of there – it seems like the unsub has nothing to lose." Derek Morgan stared frustrated at his boss; their job was to deal with the maddest criminals of their country – feeling helpless was not a part of their job description.

"I know Morgan, but I don't know where to start, we have no hint on Reid's current location or the unsub, but what we have is the profile and I guess after the phone call, we can add some points to it."

"Hotch is right, working on the profile is our priority – the unsub said, he will contact us again and when that happens, we will be prepared." Rossi tried to stay optimistic and rational and that was exactly what they needed, they knew if one of them would break, they all would.

* * *

><p>He felt nothing, no pain and no fear – just darkness.<p>

He could hear nothing.

He couldn't see anything, but darkness.

He tried to focus, on leaving the comforting blanket of darkness, that had saved him from the pain of the electroshocks… he remembered the pain – the agony  
>of the electricity rushing through his body.<p>

Still the unsub would have no idea, that he had helped Reid more, than harmed him. Hearing Sara's voice, Hotch's and Morgan's – gave him power – no physical ,but mental and that was exactly what he needed to get through this, without getting mad.  
>He decided it was time to open his eyes, regretting it immediately – a pain shot through him, leaving his head throbbing and his whole body drained.<p>

He continued to open his eyes, breathing harsh through the pain, he saw the familiar, grey walls of the basement. It might sound silly, but being at least in the same location gave him a weird kind of comfort. He knew now, that he had opened his eyes, the unsub would visit him soon, but he hoped, that he would be able to contact the team again – they had no lead to where he was and if he wanted to get out of here soon, he would need to help them.  
>As expected, the unsub entered the basement after what felt like ten minutes, smiling at him with this sickening spark in his eyes. He lifted Spencer's chin with his fingers, so Spencer would look him in the eye, Spencer himself had not enough energy to do so.<p>

"Well there you are again, I was worried about you sleepyhead, I was afraid I broke you after the first round, but I knew you would make it – you just needed some time to get better." He lifted a knife up to his chest and slid his shirt open – Spencer's eyes widened in fear.

"Oh don't worry I will get you some new clothes, but I need you in this appearance for our next level, I know you love this team of yours like a family – not that you had any family to compare them to, but that is your problem not mine, anyway I guess I will make you suffer most if I make them suffer as well."

"Leave them alone!" Reid couldn't control his voice, he knew this unsub could harm them if he wanted to, he knew how to work with bombs, it would be easy for him to plant some bomb under one of his team members cars.

"Oh shush, I won't harm them physically, that is just a gift for you, Doctor. But you sounding pathetic and destroyed will do them more harm than good. So our next level will contain another phone call and some more pain, but being my gracious self – I will give you the chance to help your team to find you –this wouldn't be a game if you had no chance to win.  
>The rules are simple: you will call someone I choose, but don't worry your whole team will be present, but it is you only allowed to speak to the person I choose, but I allow, that the others will at least hear you – is this clear?" he looked at Reid curious, knowing that he would understand.<p>

Reid nodded, he did understand, but he wasn't quite sure, why it was such a big deal for the unsub, that he was only allowed to talk to one person, if the others could hear him, it wouldn't matter anyway.

"Great, so apart from that, you will be able to give them a clue, but you have to earn it. During the phone call I will carve some letters in your back and all letters combined will be a hint for your team – but you need to get through the end or the hint will be lost – I assume you understand the rules."

"I do." Reid understood the rules, but he really hoped this wouldn't be a hint with too many letters.

"I knew you would, but it is more politely to ask anyway. So I guess, I need to make a little phone call before we start to play, I need to arrange everything."

He waved at Reid friendly, before the door to the basement shut again, leaving Reid alone with his thoughts.

* * *

><p>The team had worked on the profile, they had added everything they could figure out about the unsub.<br>Now they were only able, to wait for the next time the unsub would contact them. Hotch had forced them to eat something, Emily tried to wake JJ up, who had fallen asleep on some files.  
>They were all exhausted of working none stop, but they felt guilty admitting it, because they were sure, their exhaustion was nothing against what Reid was going through.<p>

Sara nipped on some water ignoring the sandwich in front of her. She felt so horrible, guessing what Spencer experienced right now, she had spent a lot of time with him over the last months, visiting him in the hospital and meeting him whenever they could.  
>He was a very special person, this combination of a caring, intelligent man with a brave and strong part, you would never guess, was a part of him. Sara could understand, that Audrey admired him, whenever they met, Audrey wouldn't leave his side, she took in every word he said and loved to play with him. His smile when he played with her or just laid in the grass in the park – this spark in his eyes when he was excited about something – she had never met a man like him.<p>

"-ara, Sara!" she lifted her head up to meet Morgan's gaze, he could see a content little smile on her face, covered from the still present worry in her eyes.

"Sorry Morgan, I was buried in some thoughts, what did you say?" she blushed a little, at her habit to get carried away all the time.

"Oh nothing important, I just wanted to know, who we can thank for that dreamy smile of yours." For some seconds she felt guilty, for smiling in a situation like this, but then she thought how alone the thought of Spencer could comfort her.

"It's nothing I just remembered something, …" a knowing smirk of Morgan told her, that he knew exactly what or more precise who, she had remembered.

"Umm I'm sure it was a pleasant memory." His smile grew until something hit his head, some paper actually – Garcia had thrown a paper at his head.

"Uh what was that for?" Morgan frowned jokingly.

"For embarrassing my lovely genius' lady, with your annoying self." Garcia had entered the office with a smirk on her face, kissing Morgan's forhead.

He pouted being interrupted by Sara's phone ringing, the team stopped to look at her. Morgan signaled her to put the phone on speaker, so they could listen as well, if it was the unsub, who contacted them again through her phone.

"Hello." Her voice trembled more, than she wanted.

"Hello my beautiful lady, I wanted to tell you and the others, the rules for the next game – Spencer will contact you again in forty minutes, until then it is your task to get your lovely daughter to your current location and then she will be the only one allowed to talk to Spencer.  
>You will be allowed to listen, but nothing else.<br>Spencer will get a hint, but he has to earn it.  
>He will get letters carved in his back and in the end, I will tell him the letters. They will be your hint. I know that Audrey is a little young to understand all of this and I know that our precious doctor is way too protective of her, to let her know that he is in pain. So this will be a lot of fun, to see how Spencer tries to hide his pain just for the sake of your daughter. I'm sorry that she has to be involved, this is not about her, but I need her to break him. "<p>

They had no time to answer, because the unsub hung up, before they could react.

"I can't stand this sadistic garbage." Morgan had punched a wall behind him, scaring Sara, who was not used to this side of Morgan.  
>Morgan could sense her fear and changed his behavior immediately.<p>

"Sorry Sara, I just hate this." He stroked his hand over her shoulder in a comforting way, she relaxed under the gesture.

"It's alright I feel the same and I hate that he even involves Audrey and I'm afraid he is right, he will never let her know, that he is in any form of pain during the phone call…why must he be so selfless…why can't he for once think about himself?" Sara switched between sobbing and being angry, she just hated, that Spencer would get hurt again, the anger took control of her. The others were used to this, not exactly the kidnapping of a colleague, but they were used to this kind of people. People who wanted to hurt others, for stupid reasons.

"He has no reason to care about Audrey this much…about us! Why does he even care at all? I know it is his job, but his obligations doesn't include something like his, why can't he just stop caring about every person on this planet this much,…-" before she could continue her outburst, she was stopped by the team.

"That's who he is."

"Rossi is right, he would never think about himself before anyone else is safe."

"Spence, always puts himself last." JJ looked at the table deep in thought.

"And don't you ever think that you don't deserve this sweetie. He cares about you and Audrey." Garcia snipped Sara against her head.

"People who don't know him, would never guess how much of an protective alpha male he can become." Hotch winked at her.

"And he is especially protective of you and your little one, everything he talks about is you, how you smile, how much fun he had and how funny you are. Since he spent time with you he has this spark in his eyes, we could all see it." Morgan now knelt in front of her, holding her face in his hands, so she had to look him in the eye.

"Don't you every forget that." She smiled at him and she felt so happy at their words, she never knew she had such a positive impact on Spencer's life.

"Thanks guys, I just don't want him to be hurt, he tries to be brave for us all the time. How can he be so _strong_?"

* * *

><p>He was so <em>weak<em>, he shivered at the thought of what would happen during the next game, he was exhausted and now some blood loss would be added to it. Exactly what he needed…. but he motivated himself by thinking of the hint and how his team would find him soon, they would never disappoint him. With this thought stored in his mind, he prepared himself for the next level.

**Thanks so much for your feedback, I hope you are all happy that I made it, to update during the week.  
>Let me know if you like where this is going or if I should change anything, I want you to enjoy reading the story as much as possible.<br>Have a nice week (:  
>I don't own Criminal Minds<br>**


	10. Chapter 10

He found himself with the same headset placed over his ears, like before. He shivered, but this time, because he was actually cold. His bare chest was exposed to the freezing air of the basement.  
>After the unsub punched him in the face to remind him, that he should not forget the rules, he heard a familiar beeping sound.<p>

* * *

><p><em>"Spencer?"<em>

His eyes widened in shock, the unsub couldn't be serious.

Now everything fell into place.  
>That was the reason why it was such a big deal for the unsub, that he would talk to one person only.<br>Audrey.  
>Why her? He couldn't let her hear his screams, he didn't want her to hear him in pain. She was just an innocent child, she didn't need memories like this.<p>

He gritted his teeth at the thought, that the unsub probably knew, that he would suppress his pain for the sake of the little girl.

"Hey honey, how are you?" he tried to sound like he always did when he called her, when he was on a case. He got used to call Sara and Audrey, when he was away. They insisted he called them, not that he minded.

"Hey, it's really you. Mommy told me you couldn't meet us in the park, because you had work to do."

"Yeah I'm afraid she is right Aud, but I thought I would at least call you- " Audrey interrupted him giggling.

"- I know you would call ,you always do." She had a point.

"Yeah I guess you're right, so are you nice to you m-"he felt sharp metal carving through his skin, he bit his lip hard and forced himself to talk" – mommy?" the team heard his pain, even if he hid it pretty well, knowing what he was going through, while he talked to this little girl like nothing was wrong…

"I'm always nice to mommy, but she isn't always nice to me." She grinned at her mother.

"Welcome to my life, you know you mommy is always so mean to me." She laughed at that and the team couldn't hide a smile as well.

"You're stupid Spence. You know mommy is just joking. Spencer! I know why you never admit, that you're a super hero." She sounded proud at the fact, that she figured his secret out.

"Oh well- " he tried to hide his wincing through a big yawn - the pain itself was horrible, but nothing worse than the electroshocks, but trying to hide it made it much more difficult. "- I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you do, Jack told me, that the real super heroes are not allowed to say, that they are heroes, Jack said, that Batman and Spiderman don't ever tell either. And you know what, I 'm in a choir now, mommy said I may join a club and now I sing with other children my age."  
>She sounded so excited, oblivious to the pain Reid experienced right now. It comforted him that she was so happy, the pain was worth hearing her laughter.<p>

"I still say that I'm not a hero, ask Derek he will tell you. Wow that's great I'm so proud of you. Did you know, that singing makes people happier?"

"Oh, I bet Derek is your companion, he isn't allowed to tell either. I know that. I'm always happy when I sing." She grinned at the fact, that she already knew what Spencer had told her about singing.

Morgan smirked at Audrey's comment, of him being Reid's super companion.

Spencer tried to hide his pain through a yawn again, this time Audrey noticed it.

"Spence are you tired? You sure are, you look like you never sleep. I can sing you a song, mommy always does that when I go to sleep." Sara couldn't hold back the tears, that escaped at her daughter's idea of singing for Spencer. Audrey clutched the phone in her hand like her life depended on it, completely focused on Spencer…as always.

"Oh that would be great, but can you tell your mother something before you start to sing?"

"Sure, but you could tell her yourself-"

"No that's fine, just tell her that she should call a friend of mine his name his Johnson, and now I would love for you to sing for me."  
>Now even Audrey could hear the exhaustion in Spencer's voice, but she thought that was because he was tired.<p>

She started to sing a song, until a new voice began to talk.

"Oh that was wonderful Audrey, Spencer is asleep now, tell your mommy he will be back soon."

Before Audrey could ask who the foreign guy was, he had hung up and Audrey was not happy with it.

"Mommy who was that?"

"Oh just a police officer, who is a friend of Spencer."

"Alright, did you hear what I should tell you?" Audrey was confused why Spencer hadn't talked to her mother or Derek and the others, he always talked to her mother and it made her mother very happy when they were talking on the phone.

"Yeah I did sweetie and it was so nice of you, to sing for Spencer." Now Audrey looked satisfied and yawned herself.

"Audrey would you like to sleep as well? -" JJ interrupted her and lifted Audrey up.

"You can sleep in my office. I have a super comfy couch and I know that, Garcia has a rainbow blanket for you."

Sara kissed Audrey on her forehead and nodded thankfully to JJ, she couldn't stand this any longer.

As soon as Audrey couldn't see them anymore, Sara sunk down on her knees and sobbed.

**This was the 10th chapter and I really hope you liked it - and thank you so much for your amazing feedback, I have 40 reviews on this story and I couldn't be prouder.** **I will do my best to update again on the weekend, so as always leave me some motivation...  
>I've read that the episode, that airs in two weeks (9x17), will take place in Las Vegas, so now I hope, that we will get some more Reid in that episode.<strong>  
><strong><br>I just uploaded a one-shot and I would love to know what you all think, maybe I will upload more one-shots if you like them (:**

**I don't own Criminal Minds.**


	11. Chapter 11

Garcia wrapped Sara up in a blanket and placed her on a chair next to hers.  
>They were in Garcia's office, because she still tried to find out what the hint "Johnson" meant, right now she was checking through surnames.<br>Sara had refused to lay down, so Garcia had taken her to her office where she could calm down a bit, still being included in the process of finding Reid.

Sara had a hard time to stop crying, one of the reasons why she was so thankful, that Derek and JJ took care of Audrey right now. She wiped some new tears from her eyes and sniffed.  
>Garcia turned around and looked at her, with a gaze full of empathy.<br>Garica was easy to talk to, Sara didn't know her well, but she knew enough about her to know that she was a person, she could trust.

"Garica…"another sniff, another try to control her emotions,  
>"I don't know what to do if something happens to him, I know you are all sure that we will find him in time, but this isn't a movie in which it is obvious from the beginning that the protagonist will survive… this is life and in life one second can change everything, the killer might lose his mind and just shoot Spencer… I …. I can't lose him… I don't know why but I don't want to live without him."<p>

She watched Garcia's reaction, she looked content at her, signaling her with silence to continue – "When we were in this building I admired him for being so strong and I was so incredibly thankful for saving us, but over the last months... it changed… when I spent time with him I feel like I can be myself …no actually I can be more than just myself, when I'm with him I change, I become another person and I like this person better.  
>Just thinking of him makes me smile – when he plays with Audrey and I see the admiration for him in her eyes, I wished he would always be with me… and just the thought of losing him,... I never knew this kind of feelings before, but now that I know how life could be with him …. I can't live without it anymore."<br>she sighed it was so great to have finally put her feelings into words.

Garica was crying.

"Oh my god Garcia I'm sorry I didn't want to worry you, you are all so optimistic and I'm just destroying it with…well…being me and- " Garcia had hugged her.

"I'm happy, we always knew how special he was, but hearing how you feel about him, you are exactly what he deserves. He deserves someone like you. Someone who appreciates how special he is and not someone who wants him to be like everybody else." Suddenly Garcia squealed.

"OH I need to tell Morgan…and we could go out with the team…maybe you should have a date first…I could take care of Audrey…and he will be so happy, that you feel about him this way…"

"Garica calm down, I haven't told Spence yet and I doesn't even know if he feels the same way about me… I mean it is a lot to ask someone to accept me in his life, I'm not an easy person at all and then there's Audrey."

"Oh come on he loves her, he gets always so childish around her it is adorable." Garcia got a point watching Spencer and Audrey was actually really adorable.

"But we still don't know if he will survive this…" reality crashed down on her, remembering where she was and why she was here.

"We will find him… if I couldn't believe, that some things in this world are meant to be - I don't know if I could do this job, and you and Spencer are meant to be together."

"Sounds a little stereotyped doesn't it?" Sara smirked.

"Of course, but somehow such stereotypes developed, through people like you for example."

"I hope you're right."

"If you should know one thing about the almighty Garcia, it should be that I am always right."

* * *

><p>"Time for our the last level of our game."<p>

Spencer woke up from his surprisingly peaceful sleep, he remembered how Audrey began to sing and from there was just the darkness, that welcomed him again.  
>He tried to sit up straight when a stinging pain went through his back , it was a really nice routine to wake up to a new pain and he had no idea, how long he could keep it up.<p>

"The _last_ level?"

"Sure, a game that lasts too long is just boring, three levels are enough – don't you think so?"

"What is the last level about?" Spencer was suspicious now, did the last level mean that he would get killed now…

"I will let you go."

Well now, Spencer was really suspicious.

"I am sure, it is not that easy."

"Oh it is, I will let you go and you have to find your way home."

"Alright then let me go." Spencer knew there was something wrong.

"But you forgot the goal of the game, I want to break you and you seem alright to me. I guess a little present and some broken ribs will make this more fun." The unsub took a baseball bat in his hand… ;Spencer's eyes widened in fear of what to come.

"NO!", but it was too late, the unsub had already hit him hard in the ribs, he could feel the loss of air in his chest.

His head fell on his chest, the pain and the blood loss was just too much ,he felt a little sting in his neck before he fell unconscious again.

* * *

><p>"I got something!" Garcia rushed into the conference room while the team still tried to find any new hints on Reid's location.<p>

"Do you know what "Johnson" means?"

"Yeah, I searched through names, but not one of them fit the profile. Then I started to search for small towns, nothing – but then I found a small town with a "Johnson" street, I'm sure this is where he keeps Reid."

"It is not much and we can't be sure if this is Reid's location, but it is the only thing we got, we will go immediately. I will contact some teams for support, I will also call an ambulance just for the possibility, that we find Reid."

"Alright let's go" Sara stood up and waited for the others to join her – "don't get started, I will come with you, Garcia will stay here with Audrey. I will stay by the ambulance, but I will not wait here."

"We have no time to discuss this…" Hotch sighed in defeat, he knew there was no sense in arguing with her.

"Let's go find Reid."

* * *

><p>They asked the local police officers for anyone in the Johnson street, who might fit the profile.<br>They only knew one person, he lived in an old house, the owner had never allowed them to wreck it. Timothy Clark had a tough life, after he escaped his parents, who abused him during his childhood, he had to witness his wife being shot. Not a really desirable life... after that he broke down, he got addicted to an unknown drug and lived alone in the house, he once shared with his wife. He didn't take good care of the house and according to the officer it looked abandoned.  
>So they made their way to the house, even if it was bigger than they had expected, it was still small and it didn't seem like there lived someone in there either.<p>

The support they had called went in first. The BAU team was following them, Sara waited outside with the ambulance.

When they entered the house, they saw something they certainly didn't expect to find – Hotch was ready to face any situation at least he told himself so… he wouldn't be able to deal with a dead Reid. It was not, that he wouldn't be able to do it; he just didn't want it to happen - it was as simple as that.  
>Sure as agents, who face danger everyday, most people would expect them to stay calm in situations like this and they were….on the outside. On the outside they were able to show their strong face, but this wasn't a normal situation for them and they were scared.<p>

Scared of facing a reality, in which they had failed Reid.

But finding their unsub, sitting on his couch and reading a book was really not what they had expected, the agents didn't want to get too close to him, they aware of his knowledge of bombs and they didn't want to take a risk. But he sat there calm, licking his lips and turning his head around slowly, a smile was plastered on his face, just a content smile.

"FBI. Timothy Clark, put your hands in the air, just move one bit and I can guarantee what will happen." Morgan snapped at them man in front of him… was this really their unsub?

"Oh of course, I understand." He raised his hands in the air and stood up from the old red couch, that looked like it had seen better days… a long time ago.

"Are you aware why we are here?" they were confused.

Prentiss, Rossi and some other agents were already searching for Reid in other parts of the house. He was too calm, his facial expression told them nothing more than the fact, that he was relaxed.  
>Why wasn't he on alert, he must have known that they would find him eventually?<p>

"I am. You are here for Doctor Reid, I guess you are surprised why I'm not in panic. Well if you think about it, I gave you the hint how to find me, I knew you would be here soon and I'm really sorry, that apart from catching me your journey was useless."  
>Morgan was handcuffing him rougher than he was supposed to and Hotch stood only inches away from him, studying the man. They knew, that he would expect them, but not that he would be that calm… but what if they were too late… that was it, he was so calm because his task was already finished. Reid was….-<p>

"Clear." A shout rang through the old house.  
>Prentiss entered the room, obviously devastated and out of breath.<p>

"We've searched for Reid in every part of the house, but it is empty.  
>We found the basement, where this bastard held Reid hostage, there is some blood, but no hint on Reid's location."<p>

"I already told you that you are too late, Doctor Reid is already far away."

Hotch's thoughts worked on full speed, did this guy have partner… the profile said that he would work alone…

"Before you ask where he is, I have no idea. The last time I saw him, was when I left him and regarding in what condition he was, he was eager to get away from there as fast as he could."

"What do you mean you left him?"

"Exactly what I said… I let him leave. I'm not that evil, I knew he didn't want to stay, so he was allowed to leave. I wanted to break him and I'm sure that I don't need to be present to do so."

"Where is he?" the venom in Morgan's voice was more than audible, you could feel the tension in the air, but the Timothy stayed calm.

"No need to get all "bad cop" on me Agent Morgan, I left him in a forest not far away."

"He was electroshocked and he suffered from blood loss, he couldn't have come that far. Morgan go outside and inform every one of the situation – We need to search through the forest for Reid." Rossi took Morgan's place in keeping the unsub under control, not that he needed to be controlled.

Morgan stormed outside and gathered the agents, telling them what they knew and what they needed to do now, before Morgan could take some agents and start searching he was approached by Sara, he had completely forgot about her.

"Morgan, if he's out there and hurt – how can we be sure that he's alive?"

"We can't, but I know Reid, he isn't the type of guy to give up easily and if there's a way to survive and I'm sure there is one, Reid will find it." That reassured her but it still left her with a bad feeling.

"Let me come with you. The unsub is under arrest, this is just about Spencer now. I will stay close to you the whole time, I promise."

"Alright, but please don't go away on your own."

"I won't." she wanted to find him as fast as possible…

* * *

><p>Since when could trees get so high?<p>

He knew all statistics about trees, but these trees seemed still pretty high… and all the birds, he could hear so many noises and he could swear, he was surrounded by at least hundreds of birds. His headache had already killed him, without being followed by a bunch of birds.

Reid laid on some leaves on the ground, staring up at the sky.

He hadn't seen any sense in moving, since he rolled down a hill.  
>Since the unsub had told him to leave, he was stumbling through a forest, crossing trees that looked all the same, he had no goal he was just walking…walking away from this cold basement where he was held.<br>There were so many colors and suddenly he could have sworn, that he saw someone standing next to him, that was when he lost his balance and rolled rather harsh down a hill.

When the world stopped turning, he saw how beautiful the sky looked and how high the trees were.  
>And this was the situation Reid was in when a familiar face bent over him.<p>

**I can't thank you enough for your support, I really appreciate each one of you** **!  
>The longest chapter until now and I hope you like it, I think there are 5 or 6 chapters left, I'm not sure yet.<br>Please let me know what you think, have a nice weekend and a wonderful week (:  
>I don't own Criminal Minds.<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

When_ the world stopped turning, he saw how beautiful the sky looked and how high the trees were._  
><em>And this<em> _was_ _the situation_ _Reid was in_ _when a familiar face_ _bent over him._

* * *

><p>"Hey kid, what are you doing down there?" Morgan was bent over him, smiling like nothing had happened.<p>

"Morgan, is that really you?" he couldn't hide his confusion why was his friend so calm.

Morgan pulled him up by his hand, sending a pain through his ribs.

"Aw Morgan, please that hurt. You really could be more careful."

"Sorry Pretty Boy, didn't want to hurt you, but I brought someone who will make everything better." Morgan smirked and stepped aside, so he could see a visible happy Sara. She did not need longer than a few seconds to hug him, resting her forehead against his.

"Spencer…"she was laughing, "I'm so glad we found you." – she pressed her lips on his, so short that he didn't even feel it. Still a happy smile covered his face.

"I love you. I wanted to tell you that weeks ago, but now I can't keep it inside me anymore." She loved him…she really loved him – just like that, he couldn't be happier.

"I love you, too." tears slipped down his face, hitting the leaves under him.

"Don't cry, that's my job." Sara laughed gently. He whipped the tears from his face.

"Come on kid, we will get you out of here." Spencer leaned against Morgan, but it felt like he would walk on his own, the pain still piercing his body, but having Sara oppressed it enough for him to walk.

They were talking, and Spencer listened to them – Sara told him about Audrey and what they would be doing once he was better and Morgan told him all about the team, how worried they were and how happy Garcia would be to see that he would be fine. Spencer continued to walk with a content smile on his face, forgetting about the ordeal he lived through.

"Morgan can I ask you something?"

"Sure Pretty Boy, spill it." Morgan looked straight forward not meeting his gaze.

"What was the unsub's name? He never told me and I know it's weird… but I want to have a name to this face… it would make him more human, you know?" Spencer was surprised at Morgan's reaction, he smiled at him like he had made a joke. He ruffled Reid's hair, laughing out loud. His laughter echoed through the forest.

"How would I know?"

"What do you mean, you caught him… you sure know his name." Reid was confused, this whole situation seemed so surreal. Sara looked at him with so much love in her eyes it let him forgot where he was right now for one second. How much he had wanted her to look at him like this…

"Who said we caught him?"

Suddenly Morgan's face disappeared and formed into the unsub's face, Reid got panicked, he wanted to grab Sara's arm to run, but his fingers slipped through her skin, she got less visible and disappeared after a few seconds. He was facing his nightmare, alone in the woods with the man who had tortured him… he thought he was safe. Where was Morgan? And what was about Sara?

Before the unsub could get him, he started to run.

Despite his pain he was running, passing a bunch of trees that all looked alike.  
>Everything was a blur for him, he just kept running… running from the man that was behind him… no matter how much he ran he could still hear his laughter echoing through the forest, like Morgan's had before.<p>

His laughter was everywhere and suddenly Reid was captured in strong arms that held him tight.

* * *

><p>Morgan and Sara walked through the forest, searching for Reid. They had decided to split up, so they could search through the forest from different directions, some police officers brought their unsub, Timothy Clark, to the closest police station to prepare him for the interrogation. He hadn't told them where exactly in the forest he left Reid, so they had to track him down with no further hint.<br>They were not talking, afraid to overhear something that could help them to find Reid, but they also did not know what they were supposed to talk about, so they stayed silent.  
>They were passing a part of the woods where a path, led in between hill-like elevations. The elevation let the path seem to look like a hollow. Before they could get aware of what was happening they could hear panting and a pale man ran down the elevation on their left, he nearly fell – but Morgan was able to catch him and hold him up.<p>

"Reid?"

Reid was hardly recognizable, he was pale, more than usual and apart from his corduroy trousers he wore a shirt that was way too big for him and that was obviously not his own, it wasn't buttoned up, so Sara and Morgan were able to see the ugly bruising on his abdomen and the blood that soaked through his back.

They had no chance to observe Reid more, because he started to scream and hit Morgan wherever he could hit him. Morgan was perplexed and let go of the panicked man, he fell to the ground just to crawl away from them, backwards. Sara had tears in her eyes at the man in front of her… what did that man do to him?

"Reid… hey it's me - Morgan - stay calm." Morgan stretched his hand in Reid's direction, slowly to not scare him any further. At his movement Reid got even more hectic and tried to stand up, just to fall down again after a few meters, his face hit the ground rough and some scratches on his face even started to bleed. Morgan was by his side in seconds, he wanted to lift him up gently but Reid didn't let him.

"NO! Leave me alone, please…" he started to sob, breaking Morgan's and Sara's hearts. Morgan decided that he couldn't get Reid to calm down, so he set him down on the ground and stepped aside. Now it was Sara's turn to approach him.

"Spencer, please." She knelt down in front of him, glad that he didn't flinch when she touched his face. He started to cry…

"Please… not again, I can't lose you. You will disappear again."

"Spencer I'm here and I will not disappear. – she was not sure what he meant by "disappearing again", but she would have time to ask this later, right now it was important that he would calm down.

She rested her forehead against his, something that always calmed him down, he had told her that her mother used to do this when he was a child, at least whenever she was lucid.

"No,no,no,no…NO! Not again, it's happening again.", he buried his head in his hands, shaking violently. He started to ramble… a mantra or something – talking to himself.

"This isn't real, this isn't real… they are not here… he is not here… she doesn't love you,… that's just a dream…" he repeated this all over again.

**I really hope you liked this chapter, I'm kinda proud of it and I hope I'm not the only one who likes it :D**  
><strong>Your opinions help me a lot to know what I should write next so keep going, nothing motivates me more than seeing that people like my stories - I know I repeat myself and it's boring.<strong>  
><strong>I really like the ending of the last weeks episode, the little girl was just adorable and seeing the team standing there, watching the reunion was so nice, they all had a smile on their face - so I expect some Las-Vegas-Reid moments next week, I hope I won't be disappointed (:<strong>  
><strong>Have a nice weekend (:<strong>

**I don't own Criminal Minds**


	13. Chapter 13

Sara and Morgan just stood there watching their friend.  
>They had no idea what to do.<p>

Morgan had called the rest of the team, Garcia had located his phone and they were on their way. Morgan had told them not to bring any foreign people, if Reid reacted this way to them, they had no idea how he would react to any people he didn't know. The team was with them after 5 minutes, they had taken a SVU, the path was fortunately wide enough to drive on. They exited the car, not ready for what expected them.

Morgan and Sara stood on the path, now looking at them, instead they were looking at the figure that was not more than a reminder of the Spencer Reid they knew. His face was still buried in his hands and his knees built a shield in front of his head.  
>"What happened?" Hotch slowly tried to approach him, bending down on his level.<p>

"We have no idea, no matter what we did, he started to get frantic and since then he was like this."

Reid knew something was wrong, this couldn't be happening, the laughter of the unsub echoed through his head, and now Morgan and Sara were with him again, he knew this wasn't real. He was hallucinating… Morgan and Sara were not real, the unsub was probably still out there hunting him.  
>Morgan was not here to keep him safe and Sara did not love him…<p>

He could hear a car, great… now he was even imagining things like a car… the next thing he knew was that a man bent down in front of him.  
>He lifted his head, afraid to see the sickening smile of the unsub. It was Hotch, kneeling in front of him with a gentleness in his face, that was usually reserved for Jack.<p>

"Reid? It's Hotch. I know you've been through a lot, but we are here now – we can help you." Reid lifted his head, to see his team, apart from Garcia, standing not far away from him. That's it, now Reid was sure that this wasn't real. He had hit his head somewhere and now he was dreaming about his team rescuing him… how pathetic.

"Please go away…" his voice was barely over a whisper," please, leave me alone. He will get me… I can hear his laughter… you are not real." Suddenly Reid started to hit his head all over again, when Hotch grabbed his hands to stop him, Reid panicked again.

"No leave me alone, I can't feel it. You are not real… !" Reid got up, his gaze was filled with angst he was terrified, Hotch's face changed and again the unsub looked at him, laughing at his victim.

"I broke you Doctor, like I promised. You are weak, you are pathetic… It was so easy to break you."

The familiar voice, was too much. Reid started to run, falling down again, his legs were to weak and the pain his body was in was too immense. Strong arms lifted him, trying to keep him steady. He started to hit the unsub, he bit him in the hand until he could taste blood, the hand set him free. Other arms caught him, holding him down… he couldn't escape, there were so many arms, he started to scream, but he knew nobody would hear him. His arms and his legs were pinned to the ground, soft hands held his face, something wet hit his cheek. Sara was standing above him, the unsub was still there…. He would get Sara, even if Sara was just an hallucination, he still didn't want to see her getting hurt.

"Sara you need to run, he will get me eventually but you can still run." Tears escaped his eyes again at the thought of Sara getting hurt.

"Spencer look at me," he looked her in the eyes" Great, now concentrate…"she laid her hands on his cheek," can you feel that" he didn't know what this was about.

"I can feel you, but you're not real. You will leave again."

"Spencer, you know everything there is to know about hallucinations and reality, would you feel me if I wasn't real?"

"No, but…. You were there before, you touched me – you told me everything I wanted to hear… and now you're here again and you're with me… this has to be a dream."

"It isn't, we were out here to find you, your team caught the unsub and now they are here… look at them… look closely." He did what he was told and looked around, he could see Emily and JJ,there was also Rossi. His gaze rested on Hotch and Morgan, they looked like before, but he was sure they would turn into the unsub any time soon. They let go of him.

He crawled a few feet away, observing the situation.

"I'm scared." His voice was raspy, because of all his the screaming he did before, "I don't want you all to leave…" Sara was with him again, she ran her hand through his hair.

"We won't leave, this sick guy injected you with something, you will be fine, you just have to trust us." Some paramedics, that Morgan had called approached them, Sara caught Reid's terrified look.

"They are here to help you."

A medic sat down next to him, smiling…. A smile… like his smile.

"No please, don't…" this time Reid's hitting went more aggressive, like he was actually fighting for his life, they had never seen him that way.  
>He hit the paramedic in the face and tried to run, but the other paramedics already caught him. Three of them pinned him to the ground, while another one, stood above him with a needle… NOT AGAIN.<p>

"NO! Sara! Emily…JJ,please! Rossi?!...ANYBODY, don't let him do this again…HOTCH,MORGAN!" ,but it was too late the man had already injected him, he felt lost before he was welcomed by the darkness.

Rossi and Emily had a hard time to keep Morgan from hitting the paramedics.

"How could you be so stupid? He was scared! You could have dealt with that in another way…" Morgan was shouting at the medic who had injected Reid, watching his colleagues how they lifted him up to carry him to the ambulance.

"Please sir, stay calm. There is no way we could have caried him into the ambulance, he had a panic attack, this way we can treat him way better, with all the movements he would have just made his injuries worse."

"He is right Morgan, it is for the best. We can deal with the aftereffects when he wakes up."

"I hate seeing him this way."

Morgan had said out loud, what they were all thinking.

**Sorry for not updating for a week, school's keeping me busy right now, but I promise I try to update at least once a week. I think there are two chapters left, but I'm not sure - after the next chapter I will need your advice, but for now I would just love the hear what you think about this chapter (:**

**I loved last weeks episode, finally some Reid in there and his smile in the end was just precious... sorry just had to mention it :D**  
><strong>Have a nice sunday. - Oh and today is Matthew's Birthday, my biggest inspiration in weirdness :D<strong>

**I don't own Criminal Minds**


	14. Chapter 14

He could hear the voices of his team again, like he did back in the woods.

He knew he wasn't in the woods anymore, instead of leaves who would crumble under his weight, he could feel a soft fabric under his back. That was when he realized he was laying down in a bed, he could hear a beeping noise mixing with his team member's voices. His legs were laying lazily on the soft fabric enjoying the fact that they didn't need to do anything strenuous in the moment.  
>His head was full of different thoughts and he was confused, ... oh and his arms were strapped down… Wait… Why were his arms strapped down?<p>

He tried to lift them up, but the only thing he felt was some leather rubbing against his wrists.

He pulled harder at the strings that held his arms on the bed, but nothing happened. Maybe he was back at the unsub's place,... the unsub got him.  
>He remembered imagining his team and how the "medics" he probably imagined as well, had injected him again.<p>

Now everything fell into place, the unsub had told him he was free, but in reality he had injected him with a drug that lead to hallucinations, so he had just imagined his team back in the woods, they were just an hallucination and before he could really escape from the unsub, he got injected again just to bring him back to the cold and merciless grey walls that were his prison for the last days.

Now that he knew what had happened, it was time to face the reality.  
>He slowly lifted his eyelids still afraid what he would find…<p>

Seeing his team standing over his bed was not what he had expected, so he was still trapped in a hallucination, he was sick of this – every time he was ready to fight back this stupid hallucinations gave him a feeling of security just to disappear again in the end, leaving him alone with his destiny, dying alone in a cold basement.

"Spence, stay calm the nurse is on her way to free your wrists, we didn't want them to strap you down like this, but we had to promise them that you would stay strapped down until you were awake." JJ… it was sweet how she promised him that he would be free in no time, no wonder his subconscious wanted to protect him from the reality.

"Don't worry JJ." Now he was telling his own imagination to calm down, well probably he wanted himself to calm down, more than the hallucination of JJ.

They looked at him in concern, this was so real if he hadn't lived through this already twice, he would be sure that this was real, but he knew as soon as he would give in, they all would disappear, so no reason to let that happen, the unsub would make his appearance soon enough.

"Are you sure you okay, kid?" he looked at his best friend, with a smile on his lips. He really missed them, he wished this would be real.  
>He looked around the room, all of his team members were there, even Garcia… and Sara. He should have known that she was just a hallucination when she told him that she loved him, she could never love someone like him. Someone, who was the reason, why she was trapped in an exploded building. After they were safe, she had spent time with him, but he was sure that was just because she wanted to pay him something back for saving them,... or something like that.<br>He rested his gaze on Sara. Why not enjoy it as long as it lasted?

"Everything's great." Sara looked him in the eyes, there was so much relief and love in them, another hint for him to remember that this was just a hallucination.  
>The nurse came in and asked him some questions about him, he answered them like he would believe this was real, he was still scared that the hallucination would end and he would be back alone in the basement. The nurse looked surprised at his lucid answers and she freed his arms not soon after.<p>

He lifted his arms and rubbed his aching wrists. He had his arms full of JJ,Garcia and Emily not soon after the nurse left the room, the male members of his team settled a hand on his shoulder except for Morgan, who hugged him as well, whispering in his ear it was good to have him back… the question for Reid was, for how long he would be back before he would find himself again in the dark basement.

Sara approached him next, insecure of what she should do. He chuckled at the thought that his subconscious let her behave more like he would in a situation like this- all shy and nervous- .  
>Now there was something he wanted to experience again… before he would be trapped with the unsub… something he wanted to experience again, but this time he wanted it to last longer than just a few seconds, he hoped that this time he would feel something, the drug seemed to be stronger this time around, the hallucinations seemed more realistic than before.<p>

He grabbed Sara gently at her arm, pulling her down on his level, he didn't say anything – there was no need for words, no need to explain an imagination what he was doing, his subconscious was already aware of what he wanted to do, so no need for words.  
>Sara looked surprised at his assertive behavior, usually it would be unusual for him to be so dominant, but this was his hallucination, why don't act like it.<p>

He looked her in the eyes, and just laid his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him, closing the gap between their bodies. She was more laying on him than actually standing, she melted in his touch, and he deepened the kiss, not caring that his team was present – they were hallucinations, they wouldn't care… this time he felt the kiss, he felt the heat that came from her body. He felt the pain in his back from her weight that pressed against his chest.

He ended the kiss, releasing his grip on her body, her face was blushed in a deep red, his eyes still resting on her face, oblivious his team's reaction, pressing him further in the bed.

"Umm... Spencer, …I didn't expect that…" she was adorable when she was confused even in his dreams.  
>He chuckled at her reaction.<p>

"I wanted to do this before, but I had no chance to do it." He smirked at her and the team's reaction to this confession.

"My man," Morgan chuckled again," you could have told us, just to go outside for your little make-out session, nothing I wanted to see. Where did you learn to kiss like that?" the team was laughing at that, Garcia pressed a kiss on his cheeks.

"No reason for you to wait outside, who knows how long you will be here." Now there expressions changed, it was Rossi who finally found his voice.

"What do you mean Reid?"

"You are my imagination, no reason to be embarrassed about anything and who knows if you will come back if I sent you outside."

"Reid we are real, you were injected with something that causes imagination, the doctors thought it would be out of your circulation by now."

"I have to admit, this seems pretty real – but let's be honest, I fell for this already twice, no way I fall for this another time. Just look at her." he pointed to the still flustered Sara, concern filled her eyes, " do you really believe she would ever kiss me back if this wasn't a hallucination?" he expected his team, to believe it.

"Reid you need to listen, we don't know what happened to you, but when we all found you in the forest, that was real and this is real, as well."

"Stop saying that!" now he was really annoyed, why wouldn't his subconscious finally shut up?

"Spencer, it's the truth … this isn't a hallucination … I think I lov…."- Sara had no chance to finish her sentence, Spencer was already interrupting her.

"Don't say it!" they were surprised at the venom in his voice," I don't want to hear anymore lies, you already told me that you love me back in the forest, I can't stand you saying it again, just to disappear shortly after it.  
>I get it, my subconscious let me live through the things I want to happen… but if you say this again… I can't stand the pain."<p>

Sara whipped some tears of her face, how could he believe that she could never love him… he was so insecure, but she didn't understand why…

"Spencer, talk to me – if this was a normal situation, how could I show you that this is real?"

"I have no idea, usually I would ask you something only the both of us could know, but I would know and so would my hallucinations…"

This situation was twisted, the unsub had injected Reid with such a strong drug, that even now, when the drug was out of his system, he wasn't sure what was real… They had no idea what they could do to prove him that he they all were really here and that they wouldn't disappear.

"Reid if you would be hallucinating, you wouldn't feel anything right?" Rossi sat down on the side of the hospital bed. Reid nodded, thinking about his first hallucination, he remembered how Morgan had supported him to walk, but he still felt like he was walking on his own and how he hadn't felt the kiss Sara gave him, back then he thought it was just so short that he had no chance to react to it, he wasn't able to touch Sara back then…

"I have touched you…. I felt the kiss…. I… this can't be…" Reid grabbed Rossi's arm in a hard grip. Rossi flinched, but understood why Reid needed to do this.

"I can feel you, I can actually touch you… why can I feel you." Spencer lifted his arms again, he pinched himself in the arm until he draw blood.  
>Hotch grabbed his hand gently, stopping him from hurting himself any further.<p>

"Reid stop it, you are hurting yourself… you can feel everything, this is real – do you believe us now?"

Sara had sat down on the other side of his bed, she stroked his arm, to reassure him that she was real as well.  
>He started to let the tears slip down his face. Soon his face was wet from tears and he was crying.<p>

"Please promise me, it is real this time… please I don't want to lose you all again."  
>Garcia had taken Rossi's place and pulled him in a hug, she stroked his hair.<p>

"We won't leave you, we are real and we will not disappear."

He only cried harder at this, tears streaking his face.

"I missed you guys."

**Weekend time ! and finally an update, I'm sorry but school... you know.  
>So I hope this wasn't too confusing, the only hallucination Reid had was at the beginning in the woods with Morgan and Sara, everything that happened after that was real (apart from Reid imagining that Hotch and Morgan turned into the unsub) - so Reid just didn't know it.<strong>

**I'm really anxious about this chapter and I can't wait for your feedback, I also need your help at this point, I'm not sure if the next chapter will be the epilogue or if I should write anything else before I let this end - so now it's on you, please tell me what would you like to ****happen (:  
><strong>  
><strong>I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Oh and did anyone else love the Reid-tackle on last weeks episode, finally some Reid badass mixed with 100% percent Gubler at the training :D<strong>

**I don't own Criminal Minds.**


	15. Chapter 15

Sara and the team never left Reid alone as he slept, they didn't want him to think that they would leave him.

Rossi was snoring quietly and JJ and Emily had left to get some coffee and breakfast for them, they had neither sleep nor proper food in days.  
>Hotch and Morgan were talking quietly not to disturb Rossi,Spencer or Garcia – who were asleep by now. Sara could have been add to the list, but every time when her eyes closed, she forced herself to stay awake, clinging to Spencer's hand like an anchor.<p>

She wanted him to know that they were here and that he was not with this gruesome man that had held him for days. Hotch knew that some of them would have to leave Reid later on, because they still needed to deal with Timothy Clark.

Sara's thoughts slipped to Audrey. When Garcia insisted to see Reid, Audrey was left with Anderson – according to Garcia – Audrey would keep him busy.  
>Sara knew that Audrey wanted to see Spencer for herself, but she was not sure if Audrey was supposed to see him like that. His face was pale and he had some scratches on his face, from his struggling in the forest. Sara had seen that the shirt he had worn back in the woods was soaked in blood, so she could only guess how the letters would scare on his back.<p>

The doctor had told them that he had a broken rib and some others were bruised, so he would have to rest for a while – but the doctor had reassured them that Spencer would be fine in a couple weeks.  
>Another problem Hotch had to face was the fact that Reid couldn't get any kind of helpful pain medication, he knew that Reid wouldn't want any narcotics, but what really surprised him was that Sara had not commented it.<p>

"What's wrong Agent Hotchner?" Sara had caught Hotch's gaze that rested on her.

"Sara I've told you a dozen times that you can either call me Hotch or Aaron, no need to call me Agent." His lips twitched in a small smile, nothing bright but still comforting.

"I know, but I still feel like it's inappropriate, seeing you in your suits – there is just so much authority radiating from you that I can hear my father scolding me for calling you Aaron." She chuckled lightly and Morgan accompanied her, while Hotch just shook his head in amusement.  
>"Anyway, I saw that you were deep in thought, Aaron – what was is about?" she stressed his name with a light smirk on her face, but her eyes were filled with concern.<p>

Hotch was not sure if it was his place to talk about Reid's addiction, his eyes wandered to Reid's sleeping body.

"It's about the narcotics isn't it?" his head snapped in Sara's direction in surprise.

"A few months with a profiler and I can outrun his boss, I think that being a teacher was not the best decision to make – I should have become a profiler instead, don't you think so as well?"  
>She abandoned the light mood in the room after a few seconds and stroked her thumb over Reid hand that was still trapped in hers. Her eyes were only focused on Reid and in Morgan's opinion a blind guy could have seen the love in her eyes, there was just so much emotion in the way she looked at him, you could have thought he was her life line.<br>"He told me about his addiction and Tobias Hankel. I invited him to join me and Audrey at a water park near our home, he was very reluctant to go and snapped at me, seconds after that he apologized and said that he was just ashamed. I didn't understand what this was about, but I could see that it was a sensible topic so I let it go. We watched some movies and suddenly he told me everything. It was the night when I knew that I felt something for him, it was not long after the incident with the bomb and I didn't want to rush anything, I need to think about Audrey – I didn't want her to lose Spencer, because I was so egoistic. But in this night, when he told he what he has been through, I was so amazed by him and that he still was the man he is, even if it seems that life wants him to fail at any possibility. I decided that it was the heat of the moment and put it beside, but the feelings grew and I couldn't suppress them anymore, but I still decided not to act on them. It was the right decision but when he disappeared … I just couldn't live with the thought that I never got the chance to tell him, how grateful I am to have him in my life, not only as the man I love – I would have been the happiest person in the world to have a friend like him."

Sara whipped some tears from her eyes at the prospect of losing Spencer, her hand wrapped around his even tighter than before, just to remind herself that he would be fine.

"He's lucky to have you." Morgan's voice was honest, there was no joking tone in his voice, it was just pure honesty in his voice that told her how much he cared about the man in the hospital bed... How much they all cared about him.

* * *

><p>Hotch and Morgan decided to go to the police station to get over with the interrogation of Timothy Clark, they didn't want to leave, but they knew that Sara needed some time alone with Reid, Garcia and Rossi were still asleep, they would not disturb them. Not soon after Morgan and Hotch had left, Reid opened his eyes.<p>

"Morning." His voice was raspy and Sara gave him a cup of water, so his throat wouldn't be too scratchy.

"Good to see you awake." – good to see you alive. Sara didn't need to say it, it was an unspoken fact.

"I've heard what you said to Hotch."

"I know, I saw how you're breathing changed, I think I really should have become a profiler." She smiled and he smiled back at her, … god how she had missed this smile.

"Do you want to know when I knew that I was in love with you?" Reid felt the need to tell her after he had eavesdropped on her conversation with Hotch.

"Tell me." She kissed his forehead before he started.

"It was when we were in the park, you know when we spent some time with Audrey before she went to visit a friend. She spent the whole time either on my shoulders or in my arms. I love her so much and I knew I would do anything for this special little girl. " some tears streaked Sara's face at the way he talked about her daughter," I knew I had feelings for you, more than I liked to admit – it wasn't so hard to admit how much I love Audrey, it was incredibly easy. But with you it was different, I was so afraid to tell you – we didn't know each other for a long time and I guess I will never understand what I did to deserve you, but this day in the park when we were alone. We just laid there watching the clouds and then you looked at me."

"That's it? You fell in love with me when I looked at you."

"Stupid I know, but when I looked at you – I didn't want this moment to end, in this moment you was my world, my reason to exist… I could spent my life just looking at you, I could spent my life just being with you. I knew it was not logical to feel this way about you, but I just didn't care what was logical and what wasn't. Do you understand what I'm talking about?" he chuckled at his own explanation.

"I understand. And I can't wait to see where this is going."

"Me neither." She bent down and kissed him, it was a small kiss, more a promise than a sign of physical attraction.

"Don't get me wrong but you look horrible, you're still beautiful but completely exhausted, I know you're real and I know that you're here. Just close your eyes."

They both chuckled and she laid down beside him, careful not to disturb any of his injuries, like he was made of glass and he could break any moment, he lifted her head on his chest, enjoying the stinging in his back – it was worth it.

* * *

><p>Garcia woke up from a snoring sound, she looked up to see Rossi, who was still asleep. In the same moment JJ and Emily's voices filled the aisle in front of the hospital room, she looked at Reid, just to check he was still there.<p>

The sight was precious, Sara was curled in Reid's side, her head rested on his chest and her hair covered most of her face, Garcia could still see some drool leaving her mouth, forming a little wet spot on Reid's hospital gown. Reid was snoring, and his hand rested in her hair, as if he fell asleep stroking it. They both looked so domestic, like they had been together for years. It seemed like their bodies searched the warm of the significant other and even if Garcia didn't want to feel this way, she was thankful for a moment that this gruesome unsub had brought these two together.  
>She was amazed how such an awful situation, had a result that was so full of happiness.<br>JJ and Emily entered the room and looked at the picture in front of them.

"How long have they been like this?" Emily asked with amusement in her voices.

"I have no idea I just woke up, but wouldn't have missed this cuteness for anything."

"It's so good to see that Spence finally has a bit of the live he deserves. He is such a good man, he deserves to be as happy as possible and if Sara is something that makes him happy, it is more than okay with me."

"She is good for him." They all agreed, and he was good for her.

* * *

><p>"Derek…Derek…Derek!" Audrey was annoyed that Derek couldn't stop to talk to Andy, he was a nice man and she enjoyed painting with him, but she wanted to see Spencer.<br>Derek had told her that Spencer got hurt while he was working, so Audrey had spent her time with Andy to paint Spencer dozens of pictures.

"Alright little one, calm down we will go now." He gave Anderson and apologetic look before Audrey dragged him out of the FBI building. She ignored the amused glances of some FBI men.

* * *

><p>"Derek, why is Spencer hurt?"<p>

"You know I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Spencer's job is to save people from bad guys and sometimes Spencer gets hurt during saving other people."

"I knew it! But Derek, I don't think that is fair…" Audrey was confused and Derek looked at her for a second, before he continued to look at the street in front of him.

"What isn't fair sweetie?"

"If Spencer saves people, why does he get hurt… that's not fair, I mean he is a good guy and he always plays with me and he never gets angry… and he saves good people like my mommy, I don't think good people like him should get hurt for being good."

"You're right it isn't fair, but Spencer doesn't get hurt for being good, sometimes it just happens and even if it's not fair, Spencer would never stop to save other people like you and your mom. Do you understand what I want to say?"

"I guess so. I just want to see Spencer."

* * *

><p>Spencer opened his eyes, to see no one in the room, before panic consumed him he recognized the weight on his chest, he looked down to see Sara.<p>

Her mouth was slightly opened and he could feel a wet spot on his chest, he couldn't stop thinking how adorable she looked, even the drool that escaped her mouth didn't disturb him, he wished he would wake up to this sight every day of his life.  
>He stroked the hair out of her face to be greeted by her beauty, he didn't move a muscle, he didn't want her to wake up – she had looked so exhausted, she needed the rest as much as he did.<p>

The moment ended abruptly when Audrey and Derek entered his room, while Derek smiled at the sight Audrey had only eyes for Spencer, as usual.

"Spencer!" Sara opened her eyes at the squeal of her daughter and smiled.

"There you are sweetie, " she directed her gaze at Derek, " thanks for picking her up."

"You're welcome."

Audrey didn't need more of an invitation than Spencer's smile, to climb on the hospital bed and hug Spencer, she was careful – Derek had told her that Spencer hurt his stomach and his back so she clung to his neck burying her body under his arm. She snuggled her head deeper in his chest, enjoying the safety she felt with him, Spencer was her hero.

"Hey Aud, I'm so glad you came, I've missed you so much."

"How much?" it was a little game they played whenever Spencer came back from a case.

"I missed you so much that I would have ridden on an elephant to see you." He tickled her side.

"I missed you so much that I would have walked a thousand miles to see you." She laughed at the tickling.  
>They continued the little game for some seconds before Sara interrupted them.<p>

"Hey what about me, didn't you miss me?" Audrey left Spencer side to jump in her mother's hug, she kissed her cheek.

"Of course I missed you mommy, but Spencer was away for days." She stressed the last part of the sentence with a joking agony in her voice, as if a few days without him were an eternity.

* * *

><p>Audrey talked with Spencer about everything and after an hour the team entered the room.<p>

"Oh cupcake, there you are." Garcia kissed Audrey's forehead leaving a red mark on her face.

They all greeted her and talked to Spencer, happy that he was finally freed from his angst and the hallucinations.

"What is this Audrey?" JJ lifted Audrey's paintings up.

"I totally forgot about them, Spencer I have painted pictures for you, so you get well soon."

She never left her place on his left, just took the pictures from JJ to explain them to him.

"This is you, how you catch some bad guys," she pointed at scrawny man with a cape, that looked surprisingly similar to Spencer.

"What's about this one?" Spencer pointed at an especially colourful picture.

"Oh that's mommy and you and that's me." The painting showed them in front of a house, with a dog on Audrey's side.

Sara looked at Spencer to see his reaction, he looked at the picture deep in thought and mumbled something under his breath, the team was still able to hear him and so did Sara.

"Just like a family…"

**Happy weekend, I hope you liked this chapter, either way tell me your opinion - I always look forward to it (:  
>Question time, which one of you recognized the "Just like a family" - line? Extra points for the ones who know which episode I am talking about ;)<strong>

**I guess the next chapter will be the last one, just an epilogue - and be aware that it will be filled with fluff :D**

**I don't own Criminal Minds.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Chocolate muffin, do you have the blankets?" Garcia looked around to find Morgan.

They had decided to prepare a picnic for the whole team, she and Morgan had already arrived.  
>Morgan wanted to sleep in, but he had no chance against Garcia. It was seven months after the incident with Timothy Clark and today was a beautiful day for a picnic, the sun lightened up the city and regarding the people in the park, they were not the only ones happy about the wonderful weather.<p>

According to Garcia it smelled like spring, even if Morgan just grumbled at this, saying something about his bed and how much he hates her right now. Garcia just smiled at that, grabbing the blankets from his arms to spread them over the grass, careful not to destroy any flower. They could hear some familiar voices and turned their heads in the direction of the happy sounds.

"Hotch, good to see you, we were already afraid you wouldn't make it." Morgan shook hands with his boss, bending down to clap Jack's hand.

"We just brought Beth to the airport, she would have loved to come with us, but some work came up and she had to leave early."

"It's a pity that she didn't make it, but who understands her better than other workaholics." Garcia grinned and kissed Jack's cheek to his dismay. She ruffled his hair at his pouting face and he started to grin.

"Henry not so fast, you will trip." JJ scolding voice didn't stop Henry who made his way up to them. He was lifted up by Garcia, he kissed her on her cheek and slung his arms around her neck, she played with him until JJ and Will arrived.

"Sorry for that, once unchained he is just a bundle of energy." Will grabbed Henry and tickled him. JJ smiled at the sight of her two boys, greeting the rest of the team.

Emily arrived not soon after them at Rossi's side, who carried an amount of food that looked delicious.

"It would be a shame to ruin a beautiful day over some cheap and disgusting food." Rossi stated his argument with some Italian words, nobody understood.

"How is it possible that they are late every time we meet?" Emily looked around to see only their youngest member missing.

"I don't know, but I think they do it on purpose." Hotch's serious tone broke down in a smile.

"I agree with Hotch." JJ helped Garcia to get everything ready.

The blankets were set up on the grass and Rossi's food was spread all over them in stylish bowls. 

"I told you to hurry up and now we are late AGAIN!" Morgan raised his eyebrow at the voices.

"It's not my fault that you decided to play with her until the living room looked like a bomb exploded in it."

"We didn't want to, it just happened. And we could have taken care of it later."

"Oh like you cleaned up the kitchen "later", I have no idea how you managed to get the cheese literally everywhere…"

"I forgot about it…" Reid mumbled under his breath.

"Both of you are wrong, are we all good now?" Audrey giggled at the adults behavior.

"Lady, don't you think I forgot that it was your fault that I have to clean up the living room as well." Audrey shut up immediately and ran away in the directions of the team.

"Oh no, not a chance. If you think you could just leave me with her – you are really stupid." Spencer shouted.

"I am 7, I am allowed to be stupid." She screamed, not looking back.

Spencer hunted Audrey, running up until he got to her. He lifted her up and she squealed. She tried to get free, but failed. Spencer had her in his arms, tickling her and ruffling her hair in the same moment.

"Henry, Jack! Help!" the little voice, brought the little boys back to life. They ran up to their uncle and slung their little bodies around his leg.

"Hey! Not fair." Reid tried to keep his balance, but soon enough he laid in the grass, buried under the body of three gleeful children. After some struggling, he decided it would be best to give up. The three kids took a seat on his upper body to declare their success.

"Still not fair." Reid pouted.

"I really should keep them locked up somewhere, not matter where we go they end up like this." Sara approached the team, with a joking annoyed look on her face, she sighed and smiled widely. She greeted everyone on the team.

This group of people had become a family for her over the past several months. At first she was surprised that the only people Spencer interacted in private, were his colleagues, but by now she understood that they were more than just usual team mates who worked together.

"You deserve a medal of honor, for keeping up with those two." Garcia laughed at Reid who decided to pick up the fight again, he was currently wrestling with the children – rolling around and laughing the whole time.

"Aren't you right about that?" Morgan pulled Sara in a hug.

"Spence will you for once act like an adult and say hello to your friends?" Spence stopped the wrestling and put a giggling Audrey on his shoulder, while he carried Jack and Henry on his arms.

"Have I ever told you that you are adorable when you are annoyed?" he smirked at her.

"You would know it best, regarding that you annoy me to death in every possible way." She smirked right back at him. He kissed her on her lips, just for a second, but long enough to leave a small smile on her face.

"Anyway, excuse my baggage. Hey guys." Reid greeted everyone, not letting the children down at one point, only when Garcia put out the candy he was not interesting anymore.

He took his place next to Sara and slung his arm around her waist. She leaned against his chest and they all began to eat.

Things were going great. Sara and Reid were in the process of moving together, not that they would admit it, but Garcia had observed over the past few weeks, that Spencer spent more and more time with them at their house. They said they were not ready to move together, because they didn't want to rush things – but Garcia just thought that they were stupid.  
>At this point, they were not sure when was the last time Reid spent some time at his own apartment.<p>

Reid had a rough recovery time, not because of the physical aspect but because of the hallucinations, it was hard on him to have experienced something so close to schizophrenia. They all helped him through it and over the months his angst got smaller.

Sara and Audrey were a big part of his life by now, they were as close as they could get. Spencer loved Audrey like a daughter and he and Sara were incredibly happy. Morgan laughed to joke how domestic they had become, people who saw them would think that they had been together for years and that Audrey was their daughter…. Not so far from the truth. Two months ago, Sara had been away for a teacher seminar and Spencer took care of Audrey.  
>In the night she woke up having a nightmare and when she ran up to him and buried her face in his neck, she had screamed "daddy".<br>Spencer was startled by that, because it was unusual for kids her age to adapt themselves so fast to a new man in their mother's life. On the other hand Audrey didn't know her father, so Spencer was the first person to claim this spot.  
>Audrey switched between calling him Spencer and daddy and Spencer was fine either way, he just wanted her to be happy.<p>

At this memory Reid buried his head in Sara's hair, inhaling her scent. She laid her hand on his cheek bringing his eyes up to hers.

"Everything okay?"

"More than okay." He smiled and wrapped his hand around hers. 

_They say good things happen to good people, today is one of those days. – David_ Rossi 

**Final**** chapter and a lot of fluff, I don't know why my stories always end with a picnic, I guess I just like the scenario :D  
>So now it's your turn to tell me your opinions, regarding that this is the last chapter and I'm incredibly nervous what you think of it.<strong>

**I want to thank all of you who have followed or favorited this story and each one of you who reviewed my chapters, a special thanks to** _**tannerose5**_** and _Gubler113._**

**I**** guess you will hear from me as soon as an idea strikes me, I always wanted to write an AU story...****, I think about a JJ/Reid paring, **please tell me if you would be interested in something similar** :)**

**Have a nice weekend -**

**I don't own Criminal Minds.**


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